Resident Evil: A New Beginning
by MaverickBuff
Summary: 3 years have passed since the events of the Raccoon city outbreak and Umbrella is on the verge of being disolved by the U.S.government. But, a new virus is out and about, threatening another outbreak, one that could rival the one in Raccoon city.
1. Prologue: Advent of Disaster

_Writer's note: This is my first fanfic I'm writing. I'm quite a fan of the Resident Evil series, even though I've only played RE3 (up till now). I would like to apologize in advance if anything in my story contradicts with the Resident Evil storyline and I'd appreciate it if you could tell me so I could alter the story or make-up an excuse for causing the contradiction. I am open to all comments and reviews, plus you can argue with me or flame me if you don't like my story in any way. Of course, there is no need for foul language as we can settle any dispute like normal, civilized people without all the profanities. We'll keep the foul language to the story only… _

_Oh, and I don't own Resident Evil. Capcom does._

_My story takes place roughly 3 years after the Raccoon City outbreak, on the 12th of August, 2001. _

_---_

It was a very busy night at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The school holidays have not arrived yet, at this part of the world, but the airport was teeming with people moving around in all directions like ants skittering around under the hot sun. Plane flights seemed to be overbooked, and there were long lines at the reception desk.

Rebecca Chambers stood at the waiting area, pacing up and down, once in a while giving an irritated glance at her watch. She eyes swept the area trying to locate Chris Redfield. The boarding time for the plane was now, and if Chris did not hurry up, the plane might leave and all their effort in coming on a wild goose chase would be a total waste.

Rebecca wondered how he was even going to even get tickets for the plane. The flight was probably fully booked. There was no chance for him to get two tickets in time. Besides, they had exhausted their finances and there was no way for him to get a couple of flight tickets.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her. Rebecca was about to struggle when she saw Chris's face, triumphant, as if he had won the lottery. He waved two pieces of paper in front of her. She recognized them as boarding passes and quickly followed.

" Chris, this is amazing. I was already contemplating on breaking through security. Where did you get them?" Rebecca asked, astounded. Their footsteps were dulled by the carpeted floor of the airport.

" I guess a couple won't be enjoying themselves in the Bahamas anytime soon," Chris replied. Rebecca stopped in her tracks, unable to believe what Chris had just said. She stared at him, dumbfounded as he halted in his tracks, wondering what was wrong with her.

" You stole those tickets?" Rebecca cried.

" Shhh…not so loud. What if someone heard you?" Chris asked, trying to silence Rebecca.

" How could you steal someone's ticket?" Rebecca cried, appalled.

" A couple missing their holiday is much more worth it than us not retrieving that 'vial'. I think if they could look at the bigger picture, they would be thankful for that," Chris replied, turning around and running of to the boarding gates. Rebecca hated to argue, but Chris was right. So very right.

" Come on, I can see him from here," Chris shouted from a distance.

---

At a far corner at Gate 38, a man stirred. Passengers were allowed to board the plane that was taking them to the Bahamas. He was not carrying a lot of luggage. The only thing in his possession was a small, black duffel bag which contained something very important.

Jonathan Small hated doing this job. He worked as a clerk for Umbrella Incorporated, a pharmaceutical company which had recently been under fire from the U.S. government and many NGOs for being linked to the outbreak in Raccoon city. It was expected as much, and Jonathan felt he would have to look for a new job soon.

He wondered what was in this bag. His superior hade given him orders to transport this bag to the Bahamas, for reasons unknown to him. He was given strict orders not to explore the contents of the bag. He was a man of principles, and besides knowing that whatever it was in the bag contained liquid, he had absolutely no idea what he was transporting.

He felt it was weird that he would be asked to send something this important. His superior had said that nobody would bother a small time clerk like him when he is doing his delivery. This made John wonder if whatever he was doing was against the law. Umbrella seemed desperate to stay in business, but their efforts seem futile. They were going down. It was just a matter of time. So, why bother with whatever that was in this small black bag?

He felt that he shouldn't have accepted this job. Sure, they had offered him a lot of money for transferring this bag to its designated area, but John had been worried ever since. There was so much precaution and secrecy taken into it, he felt like he was escorting the President of the United States. Moreover, he felt that his movements have been watched. He was being followed.

He took a glance behind him. His heart sank as he saw his pursuers at a distance, running towards the boarding area of Gate 38.

---

One of the officers looked puzzled as he saw Chris and Rebecca zipping pass him. They seem to be out of place, a couple without any luggage bags, running madly as if chasing something.

" Ah!" Chris cried suddenly. At a distance, he spotted a sign prominently showing big, white words that said 'Gate 38'. His legs started to tire and ache from running so much, but at the sight of those words, he was further encouraged. _We are so close,_ he thought. _So close I can almost touch it._

A couple of days ago, he had doubted whether Prof. Mercury Cross was telling the truth or not. Chris had received a call from him, out of the blue. He felt wary at first, wondering how could this person get hold of his cell phone number. After all, he was working for Umbrella. _Why would he need our help?_ Chris had initially thought.

Mercury had warned him that Umbrella had in their possession a newly-made virus of a new kind, almost totally different from the other viruses that were responsible for turning humans into mindless zombies. He had mentioned the virus was a very dangerous and radical one and he needed Chris's help in taking it away from Umbrella's grasp. He did not mention any specifics, but he said, the virus is an air-borne virus, was kept in a vial and the person transporting it will be at the Dallas International Airport at 12.00 p.m. on the 7th of August. Mercury had even sent a picture of the 'would-be' delivery boy through mail.

Chris had initially scoffed at Mercury's request. He did not trust that Mercury was telling the truth. It was until the next day when he saw in the news that Prof. Mercury was being charged for being responsible for playing a part in the Raccoon city outbreak. To Chris's total surprise, the people pressing the charges were Umbrella Incorporated.

Now, 4 days later and after 3 flights around the globe, he had finally caught up with the delivery boy of Umbrella. He prayed for forgiveness for not listening to Mercury and acted sooner. He hated blaming himself for his actions. After all, who would initially believe an officer from Umbrella asking help from a person determined to bring the entire corporation down?

Both of them slowed down as they neared Gate 38, due to their tiredness and that there was no need to run. Chris had spotted Umbrella's delivery boy, Jonathan Small, boarding the plane. He would not be running anywhere soon. He did not want to make a fuss right here and call attention to the security guards of the airport. They will have to take this task one step at a time, patiently.

" I see him," Rebecca said, echoing his thoughts. " What now?"

" We board," Chris said, waving the boarding passes in front of her.

---

" Your seat is slightly towards the back," the air stewardess said, ushering John to his seat.

" Thank you," John said, clutching his bag even more tightly. The air stewardess did not notice that John was sweating profoundly. Not because there was anything wrong with the air-conditioning, but John had realized his pursuers had followed him on board the plane. Not one person as he initially thought. He did not catch their faces, but he was pretty sure it was a man in his late 20s and another younger lady following him.

John drifted to his seat in the middle of the row and tried to place himself as comfortably as he could on the chair. The plane was filling up quickly and there was nowhere else to run. John started trembling, feeling like a cornered rabbit looking at the barrel of a loaded shotgun. His grip on the duffel bag tightened, as if it were his life.

Then, he saw him. The man stepped into the plane and looked around, closely followed by a young lady. He did not look at John directly, but John was damn sure he was scanning the plane for him. Casually, the man walked towards John's direction.

John tried to assure himself that both these people, if they were really after him, could do nothing here. Robbing him of his possessions would set up the entire airport security against them. The metal detectors are sure to have removed any of their weapons, if they were silly enough to bring them. If they tried to subdue him, he would put up a struggle, a scenario that he was sure they did not want.

As he tried to assure himself that he was safe in the plane and they could do nothing against him, he saw the man take out something from his pocket. It was a blue ink ball pen.

---

Rebecca tried to play the scenario many times. _Chris drops the pen and diverts the man's attention while I quickly open the luggage compartment and make a quick check._ Rebecca thought it was a plausible act, though it will look weird since Rebecca did not bring any luggage to put in the luggage compartment.

The man did not budge from is seat. His hat was pulled low and it covered his face. He appeared to be resting or sleeping, though she doubted it.

_Well, a five minute plan,_ she thought. What more did she expect? They did not have any better ideas at the present. A good plan brilliantly executed now is better than the perfect plan executed tomorrow, Chris had told her earlier.

Rebecca heard a soft and barely audible thud and Chris was on his knees, purposely bumping into the man. Without missing a beat, Rebecca opened the luggage compartment and peered inside. Being empty made her search easy.

" Oh shit!" Chris moaned.

" What is it?" she asked, suddenly alarmed. Cursing was not part of the plan.

Chris got up violently, almost toppling Rebecca over. He immediately squeezed and barged his way through to the entrance of the plane. Rebecca was still dazed at what made Chris behave in such a way. Two old ladies sitting behind, who saw what happened, were showing signs and words of disapproval.

Then, Rebecca saw it, and it made her gasp. It turned quite a few heads around. Her hand immediately went to her mouth, her knees weakening slightly but she quickly regained her composure. An airhostess made her way to where John was sitting, hoping to help out.

The man had been pierced through his chest, the butt end of a pen sticking out of his chest. Dark red blood started seeping all over his chest. The airhostess fainted at the sight of the dead body.

" Did someone just leave the plane?" Chris yelled at the airhostess who was ushering passengers in at the entrance.

" Sir, what…"  
" Just answer the damn question! Did someone leave the plane? Anyone?" Chris practically roared.

" A couple, sir. About five minutes ago. A man and a lady, carrying a duffle bag," the airhostess replied, terrified at Chris contorted face.

Chris felt like such an idiot. Minutes ago, just before they entered the plane, two people had exited the plane, saying they were unable to board it. Chris could suddenly remember the bag that the man had slung over his shoulders. _How could I have missed it?_

" Rebecca!" he yelled, calling for her to help. There was no reply. " Rebecca!"

She quickly squeezed her way through the crowd to reach Chris. Pushing people aside, Chris tried desperately to backtrack back to the boarding gate, hoping he could catch the two people involved. Somehow, he knew he would not find them.

_Oh God, please don't let anything happen to the vial, _he prayed.

God didn't answer his prayer.

---

" Do you think this is a good idea, Jason?" a young lady asked.

Jason turned around and looked at his sister and smiled. It was natural that she should worry. After all, they understood precisely what was contained inside the vial kept in the duffel bag they stole.

Jason raised his hand and patted Marie lightly on her head, his usual way of showing affection toward her, even though he knew she despised being treated like this. However, this time around, she did not complain.

" Relax, I know what I am doing," Jason said. " Did you get the ticket?"

Marie passed him his plane ticket. Jason merely glanced at it. Printed on it was the destination: Specter Island.

" Jason, what about the other two people who were also after that man? I don't think they are safe. Maybe I should take care of them?" Marie suggested, glancing aside. See could see Chris and Rebecca running towards the opposite direction of where they were.

" There is no need. They are against Umbrella as well. There is no need for hostility between allies," Jason assured. Passengers were now allowed to board the plane. Jason picked up his luggage bag and made his way to the boarding gate.

" What would they want it for?" Marie asked.

" Probably to destroy it," Jason replied.

" And what do you plan to do with it?" Marie asked.

" Use it, obviously, against the very people who made it," Jason replied, kissing his sister lightly on her cheek before leaving.

---

_Writer's note: Well, there you have it, the prologue of the story. I won't be putting Chris and Rebecca in later, their roles are just cameos here. Thanks for reading._


	2. Chapter 1: Enter the Players

**Chapter 1: Enter the Players**

_Max dropped his weapon and held on to the hysterical young teenager who was screaming and kicking wildly, wanting Max to let go. Max could not, and will not. Who would want to enter Raccoon city now, a city of the dead?_

" _Let me go! I have to go!" the teenager screamed, violently punching Max in the face. One particular punch slammed hard onto his eye, making him wince in pain._

" _You can't go in. The city is lost," Max replied. The words were not making any sense to the girl, since she continued to resist Max. He found it difficult to hold down the hysterical 16 year old as he was barely a year older than her._

" _Some help here, please," Max pleaded to his comrade, who was looking at where the teenager had come from. She had somehow stolen a car and rammed it through the barricades set up by the police and the army. Since she had not learned how to drive yet, she crashed into a ditch after 100 meters from the barricade. Max and his comrade were just emerging from Raccoon city next to the wrecked car when she emerged._

" _My brother is there! My brother is there!" she wailed._

" _Your brother is dead, damn it! And so is the rest of the fucking city!" Max's comrade yelled, slapping the girl in her face. His actions silenced her to mere whimpering, maybe due to shock or surprise. It definitely was not an approach that Max would have taken, but it was effective, nonetheless. _

" _Come on, there is nothing you can do there," Max gently assured, praying that she won't throw a fit on him. She didn't, and she obediently walked back to the barricade where all the police were gathered along with Max and his comrade._

Max got up with and start, his whole body sweating profoundly. He groaned as he rubbed his head.

" Why am I having these dreams again?" he groaned.

He thought he had seen the last of his nightmares three years ago after he had left U.B.C.S. after Raccoon city was nuked. He had seen the last of Phoenix, his comrade and the only other team member of his group that survived the helicopter crash, and the last of the girl. He had seen the last of any Umbrella officials and their cronies. The last of his problems…

_So, why are they coming back to me now?_

Max's stomach growled loudly. It was barely 6 o'clock, very early for Max's standards, but Max's stomach was telling him otherwise. Groggily getting out of bed, he walked to his small kitchenette to find something to eat.

Max's abode was a small, rundown two roomed apartment that was just barely enough for him to fit in. His stuff was all stacked in boxes to save space. His apartment looked more like a warehouse holding up goods than a place to stay.

He only got this place because the rent was the cheapest he could find. Max was currently unemployed and his savings were almost nil. He had tried, unsuccessfully, to get a permanent job, but he spent most of his time doing odd-jobs. He grabbed whatever opportunities that came by his way, which was not much.

_Maybe I should have listened to my father and went to medical school, _Max thought, grabbing a box of cereal.

There were not many jobs that require a man of such expertise: a mercenary. Since he was young, he was a hot-blooded youth that was gunning for action. He wanted to join the military, but he was too young at that time. Unable to wait, he took up training offered by Umbrella and became a mercenary. Unfortunately, after he decided to leave, he could not find a job.

He had not much schooling and he did not finish high school. He did not know how to advertise his services to the public, and he doubted they needed his expertise. He considered once to become a contract killer, but was against it since it was against his principles and his morals. Plus, he felt that he would not last long in the business.

A few people had suggested that he take up a job as a security guard for a start, but the pay was too low for him and it was too boring. He had asked for a higher pay twice, but he was quickly shown the door. He also had a thing against the police and the army, so he did not even consider them.

As he poured his cereal into a bowl, his phone rang. He jumped towards it. Only the job agency or his sister would call him, and he chance of his sister calling him was zero percent.

" Hello," he said eagerly, hoping they had found a suitable job for him.

" Yes, is this Maximillion Hunter I am speaking to?" a gruff voice of an old man asked. Max felt disappointed, wondering why this old geezer was calling him early in the morning.

" Yeah," Max replied, trying to hide his disappointment.

" Just the man I wanted to talk to. I hear that you are currently looking for a job. The name is Mason Marson. I'm a university professor by profession and I'm calling you here to offer you a job as a security guard at my mansion. I was hoping you will be willing enough to discuss it with me," the man replied.

" Security guard? What are you offering?" Max asked, getting ready to turn the old man down.

Two minutes later, he was rushing out of his apartment as fast as he could.

---

It was raining again that day as Kimmy stood in the middle of the graveyard, staring at her brother's grave. It was the time of the month when she visited her brother again. She was not sure why she had always wanted to come here, as if she could exorcise a ghost that clung to the past.

It had been already 3 years since his passing, and even though she knew she had been mourning enough, she still could not let it be put to rest.

_Umbrella is still out there, still continuing their research that let to the death of my brother, and they are going unpunished for their actions. How can I put the ghosts of my past to rest like this?_ She asked herself.

She was thinking about the incident that had happened years ago. Her brother was a new officer working for the Raccoon Police Department, recently promoted. He was a dedicated and hardworking officer, plus being very well respected by his colleagues and peers. Kimmy had always wanted to join him in the force, even though he strongly insisted she take up something else.

_It was just such a waste to have lost him like that._

Kimmy could not understand what was going on with the government. Umbrella had practically wiped out an entire city with all the experiments they were doing on bio-weapons, and the government had been, in her opinion, very slow to respond.

Umbrella should have been dissolved by the government immediately after the incident. It was already common knowledge that Umbrella was responsible. Yet, they are still running their tests and their corporation still existing, no doubt with a smaller budget after many governments from all over the world started to freeze their assets.

_Why aren't they being punished? It is as if the government is interested in their projects._

She did not buy the fact that Umbrella had just recently charged a small number of their staff for being responsible for the disaster in Raccoon city. Kimmy felt sorry for these people. Some of them were probably innocent people merely being used as scapegoats to buy Umbrella some time and leverage. But the public was happy to have something to prosecute.

" You don't have to wait here Scott. I'll take quite some time," Kimmy said, turning to a guy standing a few meters away, carrying a yellow umbrella.

" I can wait. I've got the whole bloody day," Scott replied, sniffing slightly. " Sure you don't need the umbrella?"

Kimmy turned away from the grave and walked towards Scott. She would have usually stayed for hours, but she could not let Scott wait under the rain for her. She had come here alone, but she had bumped into his accidentally on the way and he insisted on keeping him company. Scott was being too nice. Kimmy knew he had a tight schedule, always busy with his projects and work, even when he was having a holiday. Scott was a pure workaholic, but he had a principle to put everything aside for a friend, even if it was visiting a graveyard for hours on end.

" Are you sure? I can wait," Scott insisted, looking at his watch.

" It's alright," Kimmy said softly. Scott walked her to the exit.

" Don't worry about it. The place is great, I'm sure you'll like it there. It takes some time to get used to it, but you'll like it. Kayla can't wait to see you. She had been begging to get you here ever since she knew you were coming," Scott said.

Kimmy replied by giving him a warm smile. She glanced behind to look at her brother's gravesite again. She used to feel very heavy hearted if she left earlier. Somehow, her heart felt lighter than it had ever been visiting his grave.

_Maybe I'm healing already…faster than I could imagine._

_---_

Phoenix opened the drawer where he kept his Berretta 92 and took it out. It was not one of his favourite guns, but he kept it as it was a special present to him, given by his wife after they got married. The magazine was empty, but he was sure that he kept a functioning bullet in the barrel.

_Won't be needing it to remind me anymore…I may as well use it…_

Phoenix sat down on his bed and took out a picture from his breast pocket. He stared at it avidly for a while, looking at the person inside. Tears started to trickle down his eyes, moistening his lips. Raising his gun, he pressed to cold steel barrel hard on his temple.

He dropped the picture on the floor, not wanting to see it any further. It only brought back painful memories to him, and it was pain he wanted erased from his system. When he pulled the trigger, he will released from his blessed pain, and he would see her again if God permit.

However, when he did, all he heard was to hammer hitting an empty barrel, making a resounding click. The barrel was empty.

Phoenix then remembered why. Two days ago, his wife decided to clean his gun collection. She was pretty tolerant with him having his weapons all over their apartment, but she had a thing about keeping live ammunition about their place. She probably took out the bullet and placed it somewhere else.

" What if our kids get hold of them?" she always complained.

" That is if we get kids," Phoenix replied. He already regretted saying that.

He dropped the gun on the floor and sighed. He wasn't too sure whether he would like to take the effort to find a bullet. Was this some divine intervention? Phoenix took a good look at his wife's picture, asking her for an answer.

He sat bolt upright as he heard a faint knock on the door. Instinctively, he picked up his gun and kept it back in its respective drawer. Even if he was suicidal, Phoenix hated to let other people know that he was.

" Who is it?" Phoenix asked as he neared the door, placing his hand on the doorknob yet just keeping it there.

" This is Dr. Billy Pickton. I work for the Strycorp Industries. I was hoping I could talk to you for a while," a friendly voice replied.

" I don't know you. What is your reason for wanting to talk to me?" Phoenix asked. The last thing he needed was a door-to-door salesman.

" Prof. Marson recommended you. I think you'd understand," came the reply.

Phoenix froze, as if hearing the voice of a ghost. _How could he…?_

Wanting to know more, Phoenix immediately opened the door.

He was greeted by a middle-aged man around 38. He had pale blonde hair and sharp, blue eyes that were surrounded by dark circles. One glance told Phoenix this was a man of science. He had an anxious face, but he hid it quickly with a smile as Phoenix opened the door.

" Prof. Marson…" Phoenix started.

" Isn't dead, I'm sure," Dr. Pickton answered. Phoenix stared blankly at the man, wondering what to do next.

" May I come in?" Dr Pickton suggested.

" Yeah, sure," Phoenix replied, stepping aside to let the person enter. Taking off his shoes quickly, he made his way swiftly into Phoenix's living room.

" Prof. Marson has told me everything…well, everything that he knows, about you," Dr. Pickton said. Phoenix took a seat and motion Dr. Pickton to take one in front of him as well.

" I'm here to hire you for your expertise," Dr. Pickton said.

" Sorry, Doctor. Whatever Prof. Marson had said about me, I think he left out the fact I have retired from my previous job," Phoenix said.

" Please, I need your help. This is regarding my daughter," Dr. Pickton said, handing Phoenix a picture. Instinct told him that he should not accept it, but his curiosity got to the better of him. He took the picture and took a look.

Once again, it was as if a ghost has come back to haunt him. In the picture was his wife staring at him.

---

A couple of people watched as a large armoured truck drove down the road, flanked by a couple of police cars and 4 other police motorbikes. All police vehicles drove towards the direction of the airport.

Upon reaching its gates, security personal started making way for the armoured truck. A line of policemen were stationed outside the grounds to keep noisy and bustling reporters from getting into the compound, let alone take a look at the prisoner kept in the truck.

" Well, we are almost there, Professor," an armoured policeman armed with a loaded sub-machine gun, his voice dripping with malice. His other companion snickered. Both of them wanted to have a go at their prisoner for the crimes he had done, but they were under strict orders to not ruffle him in any manner.

A lone young man sat at the corner of the metal truck, his hands clasped together by a pair of handcuffs. He was dressed in a teal turtleneck with a very high collar and thick cotton pants, also teal. His hair was spiky, looking like a punk, which was rather unsightly for a professor. He was also wearing goggles which were tinted black like sunglasses, insisting they were corrective lenses for his eyesight and he disliked using glasses.

Mercury Cross was emotionless, staring right in front of the steel walls of the armoured truck, contemplating his fate.

Ever since the incident in Raccoon city, Umbrella had been under fire for their experiments on bio-weapons. There was a large outcry from NGOs and several countries, mainly from Asia and Africa, which did not have much power over the matter. The US government had promised that it will solve the matter quickly but the incident had happened 3 years ago. The people were impatient and demanded justice.

Umbrella wanted to buy time, so they decided to use scapegoats to bear the blunt of their mistakes. Several workers in Umbrella were picked for this. The public was not too happy about it, but it still gave them something to be angry about. Umbrella was rather pleased with this tactic. Moreover, most of their scapegoats, like Mercury, had nothing to do with the Raccoon city incident. However, denying it made them sound guiltier.

Mercury had been against Umbrella ever since he stumbled upon the fact that they were creating these viruses for bio-weapons. Instead of leaving, Mercury decided to stay to gather more information and evidence against Umbrella. He was unfazed by the fact that he was going against Umbrella alone, but it did not defer him a bit. However, Umbrella soon picked up traces of Mercury's actions and decided on an appropriate 'punishment'.

He sighed sadly to himself. Here he was, stuck in an armoured truck while the real culprits were still left untouched. He was not too bothered on what would happen to him now. After all, he felt that he, too, had sinned. In some way, he felt that this punishment was justified.

The truck came to a halt, and from the outside, he could hear bolts being unlocked. A flood of light entered the car, making him reflectively flinch. The two armed policemen grabbed him roughly by his shoulders and lifted him up. Mercury did not resist in any way, just drifting along where they decide to drag him to.

There was a loud, clamorous cry as he exited the truck. He was being led to a private jet which will transport him to his next destination where he would wait his excecution. A trial was not necessary, in this case.

Far away, held back by a group of policemen, were a horde of reporters. Their cameras were clicking away, flashes of light still visible under the hot, afternoon sun. Mercury doubted that they could get a good picture from this distance, scoffing them for their persistence. The government had issued strict orders that Mercury's identity would be kept a secret, and Mercury was glad it will be kept that way.

The plane was a small, two engine plane. It was an old version of a transport plane, but it had been nicely furnished and touched up. Mercury was not sure whether to be proud of the fact that he would be the only prisoner to be boarding the plane. _One plane for a person who didn't do anything…_

Mercury was practically dragged up the plane. He was placed in a seat and chained to his seat. Fortunately, his seat was placed next to the window, so he could observe the outside view one last time before it all ended.

He stared outside the window. There was nothing much to see. The airport was rather barren, only large areas of grass as far as the eye can see. The plane was parked at a desolate area of the airport, so there were no other planes around the area. The reporters were still persistent in trying to get a glimpse of Mercury, the police feverishly trying to hold the mad line back.

He was about to lean back into his seat, when he spotted something out of the ordinary. There was a lone person standing about several meters away from the reporters, his hands against the fence that surrounded the airport, staring straight at the plane. Mercury started wondering who he was. He was dress in a thick overcoat with long jeans. He was neither a police officer nor a reporter. He looked like an average civilian dropping by to look at what had attracted the vultures.

Mercury frowned. He felt that he recognized the person before. His attire, they way he stood and his physique. The roar of the engine told him that they were ready to go. As the plane started turning away, Mercury realized who this visitor is.

_Why is he here?_

_---_

A teenager stared avidly at the plane as it turned around. The plane was slowly moving towards the runway. Soon, it will leave to head to its destination. He wondered if Mercury had seen him here.

He could not believe that they had charged Mercury in such a way. His fingers gripped the metal fence in anger. _What had he done to deserve this?_

Dalton owed Mercury his life. For the last two years, Mercury had taken care of him and cared for him, even though he was a delinquent and a drug addict. Dalton could not remember the last time that he felt for someone as important as Mercury.

Dalton had been orphaned as a child. He was left uncared for in an orphanage and had been an outcast. Predictably, he got into bad company, getting involved in crime and vice ranging from stealing to drug dealing and to a further extent, murder. He had been drifting from city to city, having no aim in life.

One day, after being starved of food for days, he decided to steal again. Picking his victim, a man about to board his vehicle with his hands full of groceries, Dalton made his move. With a small pen-knife in his hand as his weapon, he strode purposefully towards his target. Bracing his body, he bent his knees slightly and drove his body into the man. Surprisingly, all he felt was a jolt on his chest and he was on the ground before he knew it.

" Hey, kiddo, you've picked the wrong guy to rob," Mercury replied, looking down on Dalton with his dark goggles. Dalton scrambled to his feet, ready to escape from Mercury before he called the authorities or apprehended Dalton himself, but Mercury merely tossed a bun at Dalton.

" Gee, I can see why you wanted to rob me," Mercury said, observing Dalton's scrawny body. He entered his car and revved up the engine.

" You need that more than I do," Mercury replied, driving off.

One week later, Mercury returned to the same grocery store to buy more groceries. As he got out of the car, he saw Dalton standing next to the stores entrance, as if he was waiting for Mercury. One thing led to another, and before he knew it, Dalton had booked a room in Mercury's apartment that day.

From that day onward, Mercury had sort of adopted Dalton, although Mercury insisted that their relationship was more of a friendship than that of a father and son. Dalton was fine with that. He would accept Mercury as a friend or a father.

And now, that person is being taken away from him.

_Writer's note: I totally forgotten to mention in the synopsis or the prologue that I will be using all new characters for my story. I might join up this story with another RE arc along with the heroes from the game, but that is another story. I wanted to make a new outbreak story and felt that newer characters were easier to write about..._


	3. Chapter 2: Towards One's Destination

**Chapter 2: Towards One's Destination**

Rachael Hunter's hand phone blared loudly in the middle of the night. Hastily, she got out of bed and grabbed her phone. Squinting in the darkness she tried to see who the caller was. Cursing as she saw his number, she pressed the pick-up button, wondering why he was calling her at such an ungodly hour.

" Hey, it's me…well, you should know it is me…" Max voice came on.

" Do you have any idea what the fuck the time is right here now? It's 3 in the morning and I've had a bloody busy week!" Rachael screamed.

Rachael was Max's closest family member. Both of them came from a family of well respected scientists. Both their parents were well-known biochemists, their main field of study in botany. Max grew up with a family with a sort-of celebrity status which he hated. Rachael could understand Max's depression because he was the least academically inclined among the rest of his 4 siblings.

Max never got along well with his parents, or his relatives. Most of them being scholars and academics, they had very high expectations towards their children. Unfortunately, one of the last things Max would like to do would be to read the encyclopedia to spend his free time.

Rachael used to hear Max lament his feelings towards his parents, resulting in a couple nights a week sitting near the stairwell, listening to Max arguing for an hour. His parents never said a word, probably sitting down on a sofa somewhere, waiting for him to cool off. Rachael could never understand why her parents could not accept Max as he is. Lazy, tact and not the brightest kid around, Rachael was surprised why her parents could not see Max the way she saw him.

Then, one night, it happened.

Rachael came in late that day, after spending the whole day training as a Coast Guard trainee. Before she opened the door, she could hear loud shouting from inside. She guessed that it was because Max was having a go at his parents again. But, as she listened carefully, it was not her brother who was shouting. It was her father.

" Get out of here! I swear on my name that you are no son of mine!" she heard her father thunder.

The door opened and Max came out carrying a large luggage bag. He stared incredulously at his sister who stood at the front entrance. After a while, he walked up to her and patted her on her shoulder.

" Sorry about that," he said, walking off.

Her parents were not too pleased that Rachael decided to fly helicopters instead of cutting open people, but they had consented and said it was for the best. However, they could not take the fact that Max would rather be a mercenary. Max never talked to his parents since then.

" Sorry about that," Max voice replied, sounding sorry. It brought Rachael back to the present.

" What do you want now? I've already lent you cash already," Rachael grumbled, turning around in her bed.

Being out of a job had made Max dependent on Rachael for cash. Rachael did not mind at first, but soon it became tiresome and irritating as she had to take care of his needs. Although Max thrived on very little cash, Rachael found it troublesome to look after her younger brother's money troubles.

" Um…no," Max answered sheepishly.

" Then why did you call me?"

" I just wanted to tell you I've got a job, and I'm leaving my place already. I'll be contactable on my cell phone and I'll inform you of my new address. I'll send you the first check I receive…when I do receive it," Max replied.

At first, Rachael was disgusted that Max would just wake her up in the middle of the night to make up some lame joke. But, she knew Max better than anyone and he was not in anyway joking about it.

" A job? And you are even leaving your place to go there. That's new," Rachael said.

" Ah, crap! I'm running out of credits. I'll call when I reach there, okay?" Max started sputtering.

" Where is 'there'?" Rachael asked.

" Specter Island," he replied, before the line went dead.

---

Max replaced the phone back to its place. He would have used his cell phone, but he unfortunately forgot to charge its battery, so he was forced to call using a public phone.

Keeping his wallet, he picked up both his luggage bags and walked towards his terminal. He still had a lot of time to kill. His flight was not supposed to arrive anytime soon. Dumping his bags on an empty seat, he plopped himself down on the adjourning seat and sighed.

He wondered if he had made the right move. He felt wary at first when he met Prof. Marson. He was surprised to learn on how much Prof. Marson knew about him: his connection with Umbrella, his family history and all that. Prof. Marson assured that he wanted to hire Max and he had just took a quick peek on his background history.

Max wanted to reject the offer at first, but he was greatly tempted by the job offer. It was a lucrative pay for a security guard, and he did not feel like troubling his sister any further. All he had to do was keep watch over the mansion. He felt there was a catch in this job. He just did not know how big the catch was.

There were quite a number of people boarding this flight to Specter Island. It came to no surprise to Max.

To Max's knowledge, Specter Island comprised of several small man-made islands clumped together somewhere miles of the south of Hawaii. The initial reason why the islands were made was to make a suitable research center, mainly catering to marine biology. However, having inserted too much funds and having financial problems, the government decided to set up a city there and before they knew it, it had a general populace of 100,000 people and the number is constantly growing.

Prof. Marson was teaching at a university there, aptly named Specter Island University. Max's job was to keep guard of his mansion and his to grandkids. Max had never taken up any permanent jobs as a security guard before, but he was very tempted by the large sum Prof. Marson was wiling to pay.

" So many zeros…" was all Max could think of to say.

Max absentmindedly looked around, staring at all the people milling about the terminal. His eyes fixed upon a tall, well-built person who had slung a black backpack on his shoulders.

" Of all places…" Max said to himself, not believing he was seeing the person again.

---

Phoenix looked warily around him. Normal civilians were milling around, minding their own business. His was making sure nobody was following him. He followed Dr. Pickton's order to the core. He did not want to be captured before he even arrived at his destination.

He did not feel quite right. His instincts told him that there was no one following him, but could now shake of the feeling that he was being watched. He did not feel like this when he entered the airport till he came to the waiting terminal.

Phoenix contemplated on his choice on accepting this mission. Surely, the risks outweigh the pay that Dr. Pickton could offer. So, he questioned himself again.

He had his ulterior motive on accepting the task, but he realized that he could not gain anything from it. He realized he was stupid and egoistic, wanting to only cover a wound he doubt it would heal.

Changing his thoughts towards the present, he felt someone walk up behind him. He didn't bother about it, until the person tapped him on his shoulder and said in a cold chilling voice: " Mr. Phoenix Grant. I'm Gerald Coller, Head Supervisor of the Umbrella Security Branch. May you please turn around?"

He had not been in combat for years, so Phoenix surprised himself totally when his instinct took over his body. Swiftly dropping his bag on the floor, both his fists curled into tight balls as adrenaline started surging into his body as he started receiving danger signals. His body started tensing as he ran through a few scenarios in his mind.

Spinning around, he turned to face his opponent…

" Gee, we haven't met in 3 years and the first thing you want to do is punch me?" Max scoffed, totally amused at Phoenix's reaction.

Phoenix first stared at Max in incredulity, then confusion, and finally in anger. Since Max was not expecting it, he was not able to dodge the punch Phoenix threw at him. The crowd around them gasped as they heard a crack and seeing Max drop to the floor, apparently still very amused. Security was being alerted.

" Loosen up, man," Max said.

" Shut up before I really loosen you up," Phoenix snarled. Behind him, several officers were already entering the perimeter, their batons raised and handcuffs ready.

" It's okay, officers, just mistaken identity, nothing to worry about," Max said jovially, waving them back. The officers looked perplexed, wondering if the punch had loosened a few screws loose in his head. Slowly, and rather reluctantly, they left.

Phoenix huffed, grabbing his bag and leaving the area. Max was startled as he moved away. He hurried along, keeping up to him.

" What the hell do you want?" Phoenix demanded, turning around, obviously annoyed. He was careful to keep his voice low to avoid another ruckus.

" Look, what is it with you? I have not seen you in years and this is how you treat me? What's wrong with you, 'captain'?" Max asked, feeling offended. Phoenix sighed. He realized Max had a point. He was just too uptight. After what he had been through, he could not blame himself.

Dropping down on a chair, he motioned to Max to take one opposite him. " Sorry, been through a lot lately. I wasn't myself," Phoenix apologized, although he sounded more contrite than apologetic.

" I can obviously see you are highly strung. Loosen up. I thought marriage would have soften you up a little," Max replied, taking a seat.

Marriage was one of the topics he didn't feel like talking about, so he quickly changed the subject, with the ever clichéd " So, how have you been?"

" Bad, I guess. I've been mostly out of a job since I got out of…you know…" Max said.

" Yeah, I know," Phoenix replied.

Phoenix could remember the time when Max joined the U.B.C.S. years ago. He was a fresh new recruit at a young age of 17 without any training or experience in firearms or combat. It was not common knowledge, but he knew Max came from a family of brilliant scientists, making him the oddball of the group. Phoenix noted that he never sent any letters to his parents, only to a lone sister whom he communicates frequently.

Max was placed under Phoenix's group, and Max admired Phoenix greatly, and treated Phoenix like his mentor, even though Phoenix despised the attention. Whether he liked it or not, Max had made a permanent attachment upon Phoenix, so he had to make the best out of it anyway.

Three years ago, their team was sent to Raccoon city in order to help stop the outbreak of the virus that had spread like a wildfire, contaminating the entire city. Barely any of the U.B.C.S. mercenaries made it out of the area alive. Max and Phoenix's lucky break came when their helicopter ran into mechanical problems and started plunging down at the outskirts of the city. Max and Phoenix where the only survivors, bailing out fast enough before the helicopter erupted into the fiery fireball.

Phoenix though that Max did not change one bit. He used to have that childish look whenever he took hold of a gun, like a kid getting one big present for Christmas. His messy brown hair only accentuated his boyish looks. He was no closer to an adult than he was three years ago.

" What's with that look on your face?" Max asked, seeing Phoenix eying him closely.

" Nothing, it's just that you never change. You still look like a kid," Phoenix said, bluntly.

" But you look like hell," Max said. Phoenix raised his eyebrows.

Max was not sure what it was, but the last 3 years had taken its toll on his friend. If knowledge served him right, Phoenix was around 25 years old, but he looked like he was above thirty. His face was rugged and worn out, lined with several wrinkles that should have not been there. He looked devoid of emotion, his eyes hollow and empty.

" Been through a lot of shit, have ya?" Max asked. " What happened?"

" …Something I don't want to discuss…" Phoenix replied heavily. Max knew him well enough and did not have any further interest to privy in his personal life.

" Okay. Has Umbrella been pressing you lately?" Max asked.

" No, not recently," Phoenix said.

" Heard anything about them recently?" Max asked again.

Phoenix paused for a second. " No, not at all," he lied.

---

Kimmy walked along the corridors, reaching her designated terminal along with her friends Scott and Kayla. Both of them were chatting happily on how Kimmy would be joining them soon.

The terminal was very full. It looked like the attendant was not joking. Flights to Specter Island were fully packed, due to the current flow of people and tourist towards the newly founded city. She wondered about the prospect of studying in a new university in a new place, but she could not really see the silver lining among all this.

_Why can't I get over the loss of my brother?_

A hard knock on her forehead forced her to reel back into her surroundings. Unknowingly, she had just walked straight into another teenager, slightly younger than her. He apologized profoundly, picking up her duffel bag she had dropped and handing it back to her before he disappeared into the crowd.

" Hey, Kim, still daydreaming?" Kayla teased her. Scott gave her a nudge as a hint not to bother her friend too much.

Kimmy did not reply. Her gaze was fixed in front of her. She was looking at two people that were right in front of her. The bag in her hands and her friends' voices were insignificant now.

" Yo, Kimmy, are you even listening?" Kayla asked again.

" Wait a second, I need to go see someone," Kimmy said, dreamily drifting forward. Kayla and Scott exchanged bemused looks.

---

" So, what are you doing now?" Max asked.

" Sorry, I can't tell you," Phoenix replied.

" Why not?" Max demanded.

" Do I even need a reason?" Phoenix sighed.

_There was no need to share with Max the reason why I am heading there,_ Phoenix thought.

" Some top secret mission not worthy enough for my ears?" Max scoffed.

" Yeah," Phoenix answered.

" Dude, I'm serious. Why?" Max persisted.

" If you tell me your reason for going to Specter Island, I'll consider," Phoenix said.

" Well, I've got a job at Specter Island as a security guard," Max answered without missing a beat. Phoenix stared at him incredulously, wondering if he really did hear those words come out of his mouth.

" I don't believe you," was Phoenix's reply.

" Oh man, I tell you the honest truth and you think it's a blatant lie," Max scowled.

" Try me…" a cold voice answered.

Both of them turned around to see how had spoken to them. A girl, about nineteen, stood rigid right next to them. She had long, lustrous blonde hair hanging over her shoulders and tucked with a hair band , her light blue eyes fierce and resolute. Max did not recognize her at first, but when he did, his eyes bulged open as if seeing a ghost.

" Max and Phoenix, right?" the girl asked them, trying to confirm who they are. Max shot a quick glance at Phoenix. He had not reacted at all, frowning at the girl, looking as if he was contemplating his next move in the game of chess. Max's reaction was of complete shock, but Phoenix's one was the total opposite.

Max understood what Phoenix was doing. It was not that he did not remember who this girl was. Phoenix was thinking, furiously. Whenever a serious situation arose, Phoenix's first action was to stop and think. Max always stared in awe of Phoenix's mental abilities, seeing him being able to act one step ahead of others.

The problem was, Max wondered why the girl's appearance posed as a serious situation towards Phoenix. _His top secret mission…maybe._

" You two are Um…"

Before she had the chance to complete her sentence, Phoenix sprang from his seat with the lithe of a panther. He closed in towards the girl, who suddenly winced in pain. Her knees buckled suddenly, and Phoenix carried her half-limp body across the terminal towards the toilet. Max seemed to see Phoenix waltz across the room with such speed that nobody really took notice. He leaped up from his seat and followed both of them into the female toilet.

" Lock the door!" Max heard Phoenix growl. He had the girl pinned towards the far end of the wall, his hands cupped against her mouth, making her unable to scream. She was struggling against him but to no avail. His hands pinned her down harder than a vice. She tried biting his hand, but he did not seem to feel anything.

" Hey, isn't that…"

" Lock it, Max…"

It was not an order this time. It was a threat.

Reluctantly, Max closed the door and turned the lock. Phoenix then turned his attention to the girl. She still had her teeth sunk into his hands. There was a trickle of blood flowing down his hand, dropping on the floor.

" Hey, stop struggling for a minute and let me say something…" Phoenix said, in a barely audible whisper. The girl did not seem to hear it, or chose not to. She started to struggle even harder.

" Are you listening?" Phoenix asked. The girl paid no heed.

" Kimmy, please stop," Max tried.

It was as if he uttered the magic word. Upon hearing her name, the girl stopped struggling. Her hands fell limp to her side and her body seemed to relax a little. However, she did not release her bite over Phoenix's hand. Max did not ask her to stop because Phoenix had insisted, but rather he did not want her to waste her energy.

" Well, speak, damn it!" Max yelled at Phoenix.

" Listen here, you fool," Phoenix growled, turning his attention towards Kimmy. " Don't you ever speak the word Umbrella in public, especially in front of us!"

" Why not?" Kimmy scowled, releasing her bite to talk. She thought of biting his hand again when she was done but though the better of it.

" Are you an idiot? I think of all people you should understand how Umbrella does business," Phoenix replied. From the look of Kimmy's face, it showed that she did not.

" You should know that Umbrella is into creating bio-weapons like viruses, right?" Phoenix asked, lowering his voice further. Kimmy nodded. Max tried to keep an ear towards the door just in case someone came in and saw Phoenix pinning Kimmy to the wall.

" Umbrella is too deeply involved now in their business, and frankly, they have enough power and influence to disable anything in their way, even the government. Yes, you heard me, the government," Phoenix repeated, seeing the shock in Kimmy's eyes. Even Max had to admit it was something new.

" Why do you think that the government has not taken any action against Umbrella after so long even with all the evidence and proof over countless incidents? I don't have a specific answer, but either Umbrella is holding the government in some kind of a hostage situation or that the government is cooperating with them. Umbrella's operatives have been trying hard to stem the flow of people who have escaped all their disasters. They have been on the hunt to take down any people who would oppose them. Both of us never directly entered Raccoon city, yet they were already after us even before we met you," Phoenix explained.

" So…"

" So, the point is, I don't want you to connect us to Umbrella in any way. The only reason why we could escape their clutches was because that we faked our deaths on that day. If they knew that we had any connection with them and are still alive, frankly, we'll need to leave the country, including you," Phoenix said. He released his grip upon her, hoping she would understand enough to not make a fuss. His hand was stinging from the bite. Casually, he washed his bleeding hand under water.

" I just hope you aren't a zombie," Phoenix said.

This brought a roar of laughter from Max, who quickly shut his mouth just in case someone heard. Kimmy giggled a little, feeling weird that Phoenix could release the tension around them in such a way.

" Sorry for biting your hand," Kimmy apologized.

" Sorry for punching you outside," Phoenix replied, although he was not apologetic. He said it rather out of duty than feeling. He then headed for the door.

" Wait!" Kimmy cried.

" Oh God, what do you want now?" Phoenix asked, sounding irritated.

" I wanted to ask you guys on what really happened to Raccoon city," Kimmy answered, taking a few steps forward, although Phoenix's piercing stare kept her a few feet at bay.

" What for?" Phoenix asked.

" I just can't get over my brother's death," Kimmy said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Phoenix contemplated for a moment, before giving her a resolute stare and said in cold dead tone " No."

" Why?" Kimmy asked. She practically screamed.

Phoenix was tired of all this. He had came to the airport to start an important mission, not to baby-sit some tiresome teenager still mourning over her brother's death. It was too troublesome.

" Look it's not what you think," Max said suddenly. He was mainly quiet throughout the entire situation, pitted between the girl and his friend. He decided to step in and intervene. Phoenix was not a person to be with when he gets irritated. " It is because there is nothing to tell you about."

Kimmy stared in disbelief.

" As he had said earlier, both of us never entered the city," Max explained. As Kimmy heard those words, she felt crushed. She has seen the two people who might shed some light upon the situation and they said they were not involved. Seeing the look of despair on her face, he decided to take another course of action.

" Look here, I'm not sure what can help you, but here's the deal: you don't make a fuss and I'll tell you what we know, though I must say it will be very limited," Max offered.

" Why am I involved in this bullshit?" Phoenix spat.

" You don't need to be involved. I'll baby-sit her for you," Max said, practically beaming.

" Really?" Kimmy cried, her eyes widening.

Phoenix gave a deep sigh. " I just hope that you have enough sense to not talk to loudly…" he said, leaving the toilet. "…Or too much"

---

Dalton rushed across the polished floor of the airport, trying to find his terminal. He had booked his ticket at the last minute and was now rushing towards the boarding gate. A digital board had said his flight was delayed, but he was not willing to waste any more time.

As he skidded around a corner, he bumped into a man. The collision sent them sprawling over the floor. Dalton managed to hold on to all his bags, but the man's duffel bag flew down a few meters away.

He jumped to his feet and grabbed the bag and handed it back to the man. " I'm so sorry, I was in such a rush I didn't see you. I hope I didn't break anything," Dalton apologized.

The man took back the duffel bag and turned it upside down. There was a faint gurgle of liquid inside. Dalton was not sure what it was or what it meant, but the man was smiling.

" Don't worry, nothing is broken," Jason Lands replied. With that, Dalton dashed away.

---

_Writer's note: I had plan to place the story in an imaginary island, Specter Island. I wanted to use a known city or place, but I'm not too sure of the places of cities other than my own, so I decided to start something from scratch. _


	4. Chapter 3: Raccoon City Revisited

**Chapter 3: 3 Years Ago: Raccoon City Revisited**

Max unceremoniously dumped his bags in the compartment provided for him. Slamming the compartment door shut, he returned to his seat next to Kimmy. She had swapped seats with an old man who was supposed to be sitting next to Max, who gratefully moved away for her.

The plane's engines started to roar as it moved along the tarmac. Kimmy wanted Max to explain immediately but Max insisted they wait till the plane had lifted off.

A few minutes later, the engines roared again, but this time, pushing plane off the ground and into the air. It was until the seatbelts sign went off did Max start the conversation.

" One thing before we start, what's your name?" Max asked.

" I though you already know that," Kimmy said.

" Your full name," Max replied.

" Kimmy Brass. You can call me Kimmy or Kim, whatever suits your fancy," Kimmy replied.

" I'm Maximillion Hunter. You can call me Max or Captain America, whatever suits your fancy," Max replied, trying to sound serious.

" Max then," Kimmy replied.

" What? Captain America not good enough for me?" Max asked.

" I'm not here to discuss about Captain America," Kimmy said, her voice slightly serious.

" Hmm, alright…well, I just don't know where to start," Max mused.

" How about the time when you started to head there?" Kimmy suggested.

---

Max checked his M4A1 assault rifle, making sure it was fully loaded before they landed. Their helicopter was one of the last to leave the helipad, but he was not complaining. This was his first mission, but he was not very eager about it.

There were seven other guys in the mercenaries uniform with the Umbrella logo stuck to their backs, minus the pilot. Phoenix was among one of them. He was the leader of the team, looking grim and resolute under such a tense situation.

The supervisors were very vague when they issued their orders. ' Go in, rescue as many people, especially Umbrella affiliates'. They vaguely mumbled something about a virus, an outbreak and something to do with contamination.

_And what am I doing with an assault rifle? Shoot the virus to death?_

Max squinted his eyes to get a good look outside. He could already see the outline of Raccoon city at the distant horizon. It would only take some time to get there. He tried to settle back into his seat, but he found himself unable to calm himself. He fingered the trigger of his gun nervously, hoping nobody took notice of his nervousness.

Suddenly, there was a faint hiss in the air. The other mercenaries heard it too, as they spun their heads around, trying to look for the source of the noise. Phoenix was about to ask the pilot what was wrong when, the helicopter banked sharply, hurtling downwards, picking up speed as gravity took over the helicopter's controls.

" I don't know what is happening. I've lost the controls," the young helicopter pilot moaned before Phoenix could ask him what was wrong.

The helicopter spiraled downwards in a sharp arc. Max could see through a window that they were heading towards the forest below.

Phoenix was the first to act. He yanked open the door of the helicopter. Strong winds buffeted against his face as he tried to pry the door open. Grabbing the first person he saw, which incidentally was Max, he yelled " Bail out now!"

They did not get the chance to do so. The helicopter smashed into one of the tall trees, its rotors violently ripping branches and leaves apart. The concussion threw Phoenix and Max out of the door. As Max sailed through the air, he heard a cry of horror, a loud explosion and a bright flash of orange light before his head hit something hard.

He then saw darkness.

-

" Argh!"

Max started waving his hands wildly, trying to fend of whatever that threw the cold water on his face. He sat bolt upright before he registered pain at the back of his forehead. His vision was in a blur. All he could see was a hazy outline of a fire at his right.

" Hey, you okay?" he heard Phoenix's voice, before feeling a slap on his right cheek.

" Hey, stop that, I'm still alive," Max shouted.

He tried to gather his bearings. The only source of light was from the fire, which he suspected was the burning wreckage of the helicopter. He was sitting on a wet, muddy surface. The air was cool and crisp. He could see Phoenix squatting next to him, a bottle of water in his hands. Upon closer inspection, Phoenix was holding his bottle.

" What the heck happened to us?" Max asked.

" Seems like the helicopter suffered some technical problems and crashed," Phoenix said. " I went to the wreckage and tried to salvage anything I could find. I only got a couple of ammo clips, nothing more."

" What about the others?" Max asked, rubbing his head.

" Only both of us made it," Phoenix replied in a casual sort of way, as if his team members were used up bullets. Max was not sure what to feel.

" Alright, first we need to get out of here," Phoenix said, getting up and looking around. Even though the glow of the flames was bright, everywhere around them were only trees and bushes. They were stuck in the middle of the forest.

As Max tried to stand up, using his gun as a support, Phoenix looked at the sky. After a while, he turned left and walked off.

" Where are you going?" Max asked.

" Finding the direction of the helicopter's path. I saw a highway on the way here," Phoenix replied, walking even faster now. Gathering himself, Max hobbled off after him.

-

Both the mercenaries emerged from the forest and onto the gravel pathway of a highway. Max was not sure why, but he felt more secure with the gravel under his feet. It might be due to the fact that he could chose where to go now.

Towards their right was Raccoon city. It looked like a ghost town, most of the lights not on, giving the city a creepy, sepulchral feel. Helicopters were hovering above the city, most likely sending down the mercenaries into the middle of the city.

" Where should we head?" Max asked.

" Is that a trick question?" Phoenix asked, sounding irritated.

" What?"

" It is obvious. We will go complete what we came here to do," Phoenix said. Slinging his assault rifle on his back, he started marching towards the doomed city. Max was about to argue that they should head back to base, but thought the better of it. He knew he would not be able to convince Phoenix to go back and he would rather stick together than split up.

The walk was a rather short one. They had crashed about the outskirts of the city. Soon enough, they reached the highways entrance into Raccoon city.

" I didn't know that we were in a war zone," Max said.

The city was in a mess. Tons of vehicles were left all over the place, most of it broken or destroyed. There was ruble strewn all over the street and pieces of glass all over the floor. There were small fires burning here and there. Bullet holes could be seen lodged in the walls of buildings nearby, stained with blood and gore.

The cars were packed together like a barricade, sealing off the entrance. Phoenix got on top of one of the car and cross the subsequent ones to enter the city. Max followed him closely.

" Let's go look around. Stay close," Phoenix said, raising his rifle.

The two of them cautiously entered the city. Max could now see that there were dead bodies strewn all over the place. Most were bloodied and battered up, staining the floor with blood. Their faces were etched in agony, as if trying to tell what had really happened to them. A bus containing school children was totally brunt black, silhouettes of the victims still visible at where they sat.

" What the heck happened here?" Max asked. He was feeling sicker and sicker by the moment. Sure, he had seen blood and guts in his training, but nothing he saw could compare with the carnage presented before his eyes.

" That guy looks like he was bitten than shot at," Phoenix said, not really listening to Max.

Max looked ahead. In the middle of the road lay a man. As he stepped closer to the corpse, he could see what Phoenix meant. The corpse's mouth was wide open, his body scarred by what looked like bite marks. He was long dead from the loss of blood and all the wounds he had been inflicted with.

As Max bent down for a closer inspection of the body, Phoenix walked on to look around. Max searched his body to find a device to examine the body with. His hand found the hilt of his knife and he took it out.

Using his knife, he tilted the face to the side. He winced as he saw that the poor man's skull had been cracked open from the back, exposing his brains slightly. What sickened him was that the colour of the brain was slightly greenish blue. _Probably infected._

Max cut open the man's shirt, checking his body. The man had been bitten in many places. Max leaned closer to the man. There were not many distinctive marks as most of the places where he had been bitten had chunks of meat taken off, but Max spotted an intriguing spot. On his left hand, right below the man's small finger, were bite marks of what looked like…

" Human teeth…?" Max mused to himself, wondering if he was seeing things properly. _Another human bit this person to death! Is it the cause of death of all the other dead people here? Then, who is biting these people?_

Before he could examine the corpse any further, the corpse groaned and its head rose. Max had the shock of his life. His heart practically jumped as the dead man came back to life.

" Argh! Fuck off!" Max yelled.

Max stumbled backwards, swinging his knife back and forth, trying to keep the bloodied, dirty hand away from him. He kicked his legs frantically, trying his best to place as much distance as he could between him and the abomination. The corpse got to its feet and started lumbering towards Max, who was still half paralyzed on the ground.

Weird thoughts started entering Max's mind. _What the heck is this thing?_ The walking corpse lumbered closer to him. _This can't be happening._ Max turned on his back and tried to crawl away. _This has to be a dream._ He felt a jolt of adrenaline rush through his body as the corpse lunged at his feet, grabbing his boots. _I don't want to die._

With a swift kick, Max launched his feet towards the zombie's head. It knocked him back, disorienting him and making him release his feet. Scrambling to his feet, Max tossed his knife away and cocked his rifle, setting it to automatic mode as the zombie rose again.

" You're dead, so stay dead!" Max yelled, firing three busts at the zombie. It all hit the zombie squarely in the chest, sending out splatters of blood where the bullet hit. To Max's horror, it only stalled him for a while before it came at him again. A normal being would have died from three shots to the chest.

_What am I thinking? This is no normal human!_

The zombie swung its arms around, trying to make a grab for Max. Instinct took over. Max buckled his knees slightly and dove to the right, making a roll before landing on his knees. Before the zombie was able to turn, Max took aim quickly and fired at its head. Two shots drove into its skull, blowing it apart. It hobbled slightly before dropping down on the floor.

Even with the zombie dead, Max could not calm himself. His heart was pumping faster than he had ever experienced. He had come face to face with a real 'walking dead'.

As soon as the zombie dropped to the ground, Max heard other moans that chilled his blood. Looking around, he saw other zombies rising to their feet, hobbling and stumbling towards the only living thing around, him.

Max stared in horror at the scene around him. Zombies came to him, all groaning in pain or agony, their mouths hanging open, baring their teeth at him. They were all soaked in blood and their flesh was decayed, having turned into brownish grey with shades of purple.

He only took a second to look. After that, he took off down the road, screaming " Phoenix!"

-

Phoenix clicked his radio again. Nothing. All that came back was static.

Phoenix was getting worried. At this range, the other mercenaries would be able to get his radio signal. They were getting his signal, alright. The problem was they were not responding to him.

Placing the radio back on his pocket, he looked around. The whole place was deserted. The commercial shops were all broken up, with corpses lying around and blood splattered everywhere. It looked like a war-zone, but the strange thing was that there was no army.

As Phoenix was about to turn back, he saw something that made him stop. Ahead of him, down the road, people were starting to converge. Phoenix wanted to call out to them, but hesitated. These people were not behaving normally. They hobbled and lumbered around, their hands out-stretched in front of them. Phoenix did not like the look of it.

As he was contemplating on what to do next, he heard the loud steps of boots coming from behind him. He whirled around, his rifle raised, but he only saw Max running towards him frantically, his face full of fear.

" Let's get the hell out of here!" Max yelled, pulling Phoenix by his collar.

" What the hell is wrong with you?" Phoenix yelled.

" This city is dead. People are becoming zombies. Let's go!" Max said.

" Zombies?" Phoenix cried. _So the reports were true._

Only the supervisors sent on the mission were given the real reason why they were being sent here. The other mercenaries were just given orders to evacuate the people and to stem the flow of the people moving erratically from the city. However, Phoenix had been snooping around the offices and stumbled upon the supervisor's orders.

" We need to leave!" Max yelled frantically.

" I know," Phoenix said at last, turning around. Max was surprised at Phoenix's reaction. He expected him to resist a little longer, saying that Max was crazy until he had to slap some sense in him, but he was in no hurry to question him.

" So, you want to leave now?" Max asked, sounding hopeful.

" We have to. The odds are against us," Phoenix replied.

" Odds?"

Phoenix realized that they were being sent on a suicide mission here. If what he speculated was true, then the outbreak of the disease was humans turning into zombies. If so, then it was 500 mercenaries against 100000 undead people. That is, if they are lucky.

Both Phoenix and Max returned to the previous road they had entered from, which was now blocked by a horde of zombies. Phoenix roughly counted fifty of them, give or take. They were the only things standing between them and the exit to the highway, besides the earlier vehicles blocking the way. Phoenix was confident that Max and himself were capable of killing off the zombies.

" Ready?" Phoenix asked, raising his rifles.

" Fire at their heads. They are dead, so blowing their hearts out won't do any good," Max replied. Phoenix nodded.

Both of them walked closer to the zombie and fired singular burst at their heads. It sometimes took two shots, but it was effective. In their already decayed bodies, their heads were very fragile and weak. A well-placed shot would blow a zombies head off, allowing it to crumble on the floor in a messy heap.

Both of them were efficient in their sweep. The zombies blocking their way were clearing up in no time. Max tossed aside his empty rifle cartridge and inserted a fresh one when he heard a loud guttural cry.

Max and Phoenix spun around and looked up. Right on top of a bike shop stood a monster. It was humanoid, covered in what looked like black leather from its neck to its shoes. It had a hideous looking face, all brownish and gnarled up with only one visible eye. There were purple tentacles that seem to protrude from its back. On its left hand, it carried what looked like a…

" Is that a rocket launcher?" Max cried.

The monster took aim and fired at Phoenix first. Phoenix dodged the shot just in time, reflexively, side-rolling to a side as the rocket exploded at where he stood a second a go. Max reflectively raised his arm to shield his face from the blast. It left a smoldering crater in the middle of the road, along with several limbs of the zombies it had taken with along with the blast.

Leaping down with utmost ease, the monster landed squarely on its two feet and slowly walked towards Phoenix, who was still on his knees, shaking his head, groggy from the explosion. Alarmed, Max raised his rifle and fired, keeping his finger trained on the trigger.

Bullets pierced the monster's body, but it barely flinched. Bits and pieces of flesh and blood came bursting out of its body, but it merely glanced at Max. There was a click and the magazine was empty. Max was paralyzed at seeing the monster still standing.

The monster raised its rocket launcher again and fired. Max did a quick side-step just in time. He felt the heat of the rocket fire sear his face. The rocket flew pass him, hitting a car some distance away, making it erupt in a large, fiery fireball.

As soon as the explosion occurred, Max felt someone pull his arm. It was Phoenix. He had risen from his stupor and was now getting Max to run away. Max did not need to be told. Against such a monster which could withstand a hail of bullets, he doubted that using all their bullets would suffice.

The monster tore after them, effortlessly slamming its rocket launcher into any zombies blocking its way. Phoenix and Max spun left and entered an alleyway. Max ran as fast as his legs could carry him. As his feet pounded along the cement floor, he heard a loud clicking sound that made his heart drop.

He gave a small fleeting glance behind as he ran. The monster's weapon flared briefly at its tip as a rocket shot forward. Both he and Phoenix hit the floor. The rocket exploded with a deafening roar, blasting out the concrete of the walls surrounding them. They covered their heads as rumble started to collapse all around them.

---

_Writer's note: I know in the game Nemesis's rocket launcher doesn't explode with that much power, but I thought the firepower was pathetic for a rocket launcher, so I sort of incresed its firepower in my fanfic. I initially planned to give Max and Phoenix some background story by letting them stay in Specter Island for a while and let their character's develope, but it sounded kinda boring, so I opted for a flashback with some action in it._


	5. Chapter 4: A Skirmish With Nemesis

**Chapter 4: 3 Years Ago: A Skirmish with Nemesis**

" What the heck was that thing?" Kimmy asked.

" Beats me. Whatever it was it had more intellect than all the other zombies combined. It was really freaky. Some kind of an advance monster of some sort. No doubt made by Umbrella and unceremoniously dropped there," Max sighed.

The plane jolted a little due to the turbulence it was facing outside.

" Umbrella dropped it there? And they sent you all in there? What for?" Kimmy whispered, rather shocked.

" Guinea pigs," came Max's reply.

---

Max felt all the rubble fall crumble upon him. Bits and pieces of bricks and concrete started to rain down on him, pelting him hard. He was forced down on the floor unceremoniously.

Max tired to rise from the ground, but a second later he knew it was a bad idea. There came a loud, familiar roar and the thumping of heavy footsteps. Max had totally forgotten about the monster. He probably should have played dead, and then maybe it might leave.

_How could I forget him? He just fired a rocket launcher at me!_

As Max turned around on his back, he could see the horrible creature standing above him. With one swift movement, he lowered his free arm and grabbed Max by his throat. Max flung his arms around, hoping to find his rifle in time. His hand merely grazed the butt of his rifle before the monster successfully lifted him up.

Max started squirming as hard as he could, but he only made it harder for him to breathe. The creature growled and aimed the rocket launcher at his face. Max suddenly stopped struggling as he saw through the barrel of the launcher, where a rocket was in place, ready to be fired.

_He's gonna blow us both up!_

Quickly, Max tried to find another weapon. Any weapon. His hand reached down to his holster where he kept his handgun. Desperately, he pulled it out and fired at the only vulnerable spot he could find, which was its eye.

It worked. Although all the bullets did was bounce of its seemingly impenetrable hide, it irritated it enough to drop Max on the ground, firing the rocket out of the launcher and into the sky. Max stumbled backwards towards a wall as he gasped for breath.

Enraged now, it raised its arm. Max thought that it was about to throw a punch when something weird happened. Out of its arm started to emit some fumes and liquid, purple in colour and deadly looking. It drew its hand back and went for Max's face.

Max ducked quickly and the monster missed. It hand slammed into the wall, making a crack. Max knew enough that he was not willing to try to make contact with the stuff oozing out of its hand.

Rifle shots started ringing in the air. Max spun to look at Phoenix firing his gun at the monster. Momentarily stalled, Max took the chance to dive for his rifle. Picking up his rifle, he went alongside Phoenix and they started running, with the monster chasing them in no time.

" Thanks," Max said. Phoenix mere gave a barely perceptible nod.

The creature quickly caught up to them with several strides. Dodging immediately to their left when he was right behind them, they avoided a close hit from his outstretched arm. Phoenix spotted a rusted door by his side. Nudging Max to get his attention both of them entered the door and slammed it shut behind them.

Both of them propped their bodies against the door as the monster slammed its heavy fists on the door. Max felt the door jolt a little, but other than that it stayed intact. Max looked in front of him. It was a dead end, a blank, grey wall staring back at him. If that monster came through here, they would be finished.

With another roar, they heard another click. The monster was loading another rocket into the launcher. Before they could react, it gave another roar then there was a crash of metal against metal. It started hitting its fists against the door, the pounding of metal reverberating in their ears.

" I think it ran out of rockets," Phoenix said, sounding relieved.

" He has such bad accuracy," Max laughed.

But their joy was short-lived. There was no exit from the place. They had entered a dead end. The closest exit was a window that stood by a wall about 8 feet above them. Although the door was secure, the monster was unable to break it due to the fact that both of them were holding it in place. Max saw a large dent on the door, which was not a good sign.

" This guy is going to burst through any second now," Max stated the obvious.

" Well, we need to get out of here," Phoenix replied.

" How? It's a bloody dead end here!" Max yelled. The monster continued to pound the door, now by ramming its body onto the door. It shuddered each time it made contact.

Phoenix glanced around, trying to work out a solution. He found one almost immediately.

" That window there," Phoenix replied, pointing to the solitary window Max had spotted earlier.

" How? It's eight feet high!" Max practically yelped.

" We don't have a choice. I'll give you a boost. Drop your rifle," Phoenix barked as he tossed his aside.

" Are you nuts?"

" You can't scale the wall with that gun."

Max had to agree it was true. Reluctantly, he dropped his by his side. He took aim of the window with his handgun and fire at the window, breaking the glass planes to pieces.

" On my count, we move," Phoenix said.

As the monster rammed itself upon the door again, Phoenix yelled " Now!" Both mercenaries tore towards the window. Phoenix crouched down just below the window and Max quickly stepped on top of him. Max jumped up to reach the window ledge as Phoenix boosted him upwards.

Max winced as his palms got cut from the broken shards of glass. He gritted his teeth as he painfully pulled himself up. Kicking against the wall, he launched his body through the window. He landed on the floor with a loud bump, hurting his shoulders.

He had no time to tend to his bruised shoulder. He leaned out of the window, lowering his arms as low as he could lower them for Phoenix to catch. Phoenix leaped up, catching his arms when the monster burst through. It took a swipe at Phoenix's hanging body, but Phoenix tucked his legs to avoid the blow.

Max pulled as hard as he could to haul Phoenix in. He felt that his arms were starting to dislocate from its joints as he strained against Phoenix's weight. Giving a swift kick, Phoenix launched himself into the room, tumbling down along with Max.

" Oh hell, get off me!" Max complained, pushing Phoenix off him.

They had ended up in a small flat. The living room in which they were in was in a mess. Food was strewn all over the place. Furniture was turned upside down and broken pieces of china lay all over the floor. There was an appalling smell of decaying flesh waffled from within the room.

Grabbing the nearest piece of cloth, Max started bandaging his hands. Phoenix took out his handgun and searched the room. Satisfied that there isn't anyone or anything around, he slipped his gun back in his holster and turned his attention to Max.

" How's your hand?" he asked.

" Hurts like hell, but I'll live," Max groaned. He had managed to stop the bleeding.

" That sucks," Phoenix grunted.

" I wonder if that guy is still around…" Max mused, walking to the window where they came in. Before he was able to peer out to get a good look, a long, purple tentacle shot out from below, almost grazing Max's face. With a yell, Max jumped several feet backwards as the tentacle started probing around the window, too short to reach them from this range.

" Stupid fool…" Phoenix muttered.

" How was I supposed to know?" Max shot back.

" Are you alright now? Because the sooner we leave, the better," Phoenix asked.

" Yeah, yeah, I know," Max said, heading for the door.

He opened it slowly and looked around. The coast was clear. Max slowly stepped out of the flat, followed by Phoenix. Both of them had their handguns armed.

As Max cautiously moved out, he heard a cry from below. It was definitely a human cry. Throwing caution into the wind, both Max and Phoenix exited the area and ran down the staircase. The cry came again, even louder now, before being muffled by a gunshot.

Leaping down, Max came face to face with a giant spider. It was enourmous, by normal standards. It was about 5 feet long in length, its hairs bristling horribly over its grotesque body. It had spun a web around a mercenary and stuck him to the side of the wall, whose face was etched in agony.

However, it was not the spider that had killed the man. At the side of the man's head was a bullet hole with blood freely flowing out of the wound. A man stepped out from the shadows at Max's right, armed with a rifle. He started riddling the spider's body, bursting out its innards all over the place. It squealed loudly as it died.

Max was about to say something when the mercenary did something strange. He bent over the dead man and started examining him. He took out a notebook and started scribbling something down. He took out a tape recorder and said something into it, like a scientist making an observation.

Max heard the click of a gun. Phoenix stepped forward and aimed the gun at the mercenary. The mercenary recoiled slightly in shock and his hands went to his rifle, but he thought the better of it and lowered his arms.

" Drop your gun," Phoenix said. The mercenary stared blankly at him.

Phoenix fired. It hit the rifle squarely in the middle. The mercenary immediately dropped it on the floor. Phoenix boldly stepped forwards and kicked the gun aside. He reached for the mercenary's handgun holster and quickly disarmed him before he could realize it.

" What the hell were you doing?" Phoenix demanded. The mercenary did not answer. Phoenix fired a shot at his foot. He howled in pain as he dropped to the floor and grabbed his bleeding foot. Max felt rather frightened as he saw Phoenix walk up coolly and pressed the gun at the man's temple.

Before he asked another question, Phoenix spotted the man's notebook. Picking it up, he tossed it at Max. " Read it, Max, and tell me what it says," Phoenix said as Max caught it in his hands.

Max opened the book and browsed through the pages. He took out a loose page which looked like the most official looking document. Unfolding it, he saw the Umbrella Incorporated logo by the top right hand corner of the paper. Printed upon the paper were orders.

Max read it briefly, then getting the gist of the orders, read it again, slowly and carefully, very disturbed by the news.

" Apparently, the reason why the civilians of this city turned into zombies is caused by an outbreak of a virus. Once infected, the person will slowly turn into a zombie, infecting others if it comes into contact with it," Max said, feeling his gut drop. _I'm sure I didn't touch any of them…directly._

" A virus?" Phoenix asked.

" Yes, one made by Umbrella," Max replied.

Phoenix stared incredulously at Max. " They made this virus? And sent it to the city and sent us in?" he howled loudly, his face turning red in rage.

" 'Supervisors' were sent in to collect combat data on the virus and any useful information to further aid in the research of the virus," Max continued, finishing his summary. " In these notes are information about zombies and how they act. I guess he is a supervisor then."

" Fuck you!" Phoenix cried, blowing the man's brains apart. His brains splattered upon the wall, painting it red. Seething, he picked up both rifles of the dead mercenaries. He pushed one towards Max's chest.

" Take this. We are leaving. I don't want to be stuck in the middle of this necropolis," Phoenix growled, storming off.

" So, our superiors tricked us in coming here. This sucks…" Max replied, checking his rifle to make sure it was loaded. It was. He wa not too sure what to feel about this. Umbrella was actually making biological weapons in the form of viruses that turned humans , and spiders and God knows what, into dangerous monsters. Moreover, they sent people like himself in on a suicide mission to extract survivors. He took another look at the notebook and started to browse its contents.

" Keep the notebook in a safe place," Phoenix said.

" Why?"

" Cause we might need some insurance," Phoenix replied. Max shrugged and stowed it away in his pocket of his mercenary vest.

" So, I guess we are aborting the mission, huh?" Max asked, hoisting his rifle.

" Looks like it."

Emerging from the flat, they were back in the city streets. Phoenix tried to get his bearings quickly. The alleyway where they had entered earlier was just to his left, not far off. If they could backtrack to their initial area, they could exit the area and leave the damned place once and for all. He just hoped the monster they encountered earlier was not there and had already left.

Phoenix took of into a jog to his left with Max following close behind. The streets were empty with no signs of any undead walking around in the streets. Thankfully, the monster had left.

Both of them reached the entrance of the highway where they had entered. Clambering over the vehicles blocking their way, they reached the main highway. From there, they started running. Running away from the city, running away from the madness, running away from it all.

Max was not sure how long he ran. His legs started to tire and ache as he ran. It was until he could not run any further did he drop to his knees and fell to the gravel path, panting deeply. He heard a faint bump next to him and guessed it was Phoenix taking a break. The full moon shone down its pale, bluish light on him, illuminating him in the night.

---

The morning sun had risen. Max welcomed the glow and warmth of the sun's rays. He and Phoenix had spent the night sleeping in the forest, exposed to the elements of nature, chilling him to the bone. The warmth was welcoming indeed. He remembered the time when he always opened the window of his room to let in all the glorious sunshine. It was a feeling he missed dearly.

" You sure are a man of simple pleasures," Phoenix said suddenly.

" Hmm?"

" Even sunshine can crack you up. How I wish I could be like you," Phoenix grunted.

" Well, lighten up. You always have this serious face over your dumb mug face. You do know how to smile, don't you?" Max asked.

Phoenix gave him a scowl. Then, he relaxed his face. It was not a smile, but more of a mere expressionless face. _Well, that is a start._

" I think we should quit. I don't want to work under Umbrella anymore now, knowing what they are doing. What do you think?" Max asked.

" My sentiments, exactly," Phoenix replied.

They were continuing along the highway. Max knew it would be a very long walk. Their base where the helicopters had taken off where miles away. The closest town was a day walk away. They were probably unable to hitch a ride, since nobody would be entering the city and nobody would be leaving now.

Max felt very hungry. He had barely eaten before the trip to the city to avoid problems going into action with a full stomach. They were unable to find anything edible in the forest and had nothing to eat since. He figured he would be famished by the time he reached the next town.

Max looked at Phoenix. They had barely been in the city for half and hour, but it was enough time for them to learn to work together. Max felt he was closer to Phoenix now than ever before, although he was not sure it was the same with his partner.

" Looks like someone have gotten their welcoming party ready," Phoenix said off-handedly.

The statement took Max off guard. _What was he talking about?_ Max cautiously scanned the area around him. Nothing. All he saw was the highway and tons of trees all around them. The wind was blowing softly, the branches in the trees swaying gently along with the wind.

" What did you say?" Max asked.

" There are a couple of people waiting in the forest in front of us on our left. They are armed with sub-machineguns," Phoenix said.

" Where are they from?" Max asked.

" One way to find out," Phoenix said.

Instantly, he dashed to his left, storming through the forest. Several shots rang out, one zipping past Max's ear. Cursing, he ran for cover behind the trees on his left.

He could hear Phoenix's assault rifle chatter among the returning fire of machineguns. Max could hear cries of death as Phoenix hit his targets. Max came out from cover, wanting to help his friend, but he was confused with all the loud gunshots and sparks all over the place.

As soon as it started, it stopped. " It's over Max. Come here," Phoenix's voice called out to him. Feeling relieved that his friend was alright, he jogged towards the direction of the voice.

He reached a small clearing. Five men, all dressed in Kevlar vests and armed with sub-machineguns, lay dead on the floor. Phoenix, who was standing in front of Max, coolly reloaded his empty rifle magazine with a fresh new one and looked at the dead men, as if contemplating on his kill.

" Looks like our bosses sent us a welcoming party," Phoenix said, nudging a dead man's shoulder with the butt of his rifle. Max went closer to inspect where Phoenix had pointed. On the man's vest was a familiar red and white logo, similar to the on etched on Max's mercenary vest on his back.

" Umbrella's logo," Max mused.

" Looks like they wanted to eliminate us," Phoenix said.

" Why?" Max asked, alarmed.

" Look at this. They have created one of the most dangerous and advanced biological weapon in history and they have just released it in a city which they had founded. I'm sure they can take care of outside influences, but it will be difficult to contain whatever that came out of the city alive," Phoenix said.

Max stared at his friend.

" We have been looked upon as a liability. We were sent inside as guinea pigs, thus they are expecting that we won't get out. It will look bad if they found out we were still alive," Phoenix said. He walked around to one of the dead man and checked his backpack. Opening a zipper, he examined its contents, extracting what looked a couple of wafer bars.

" Look on the bright side: They brought us breakfast," Phoenix said, grinning for the first time Max had seen in his time with him.

---

Max and Phoenix continued on their way as soon as they were done. The wafer bars barely filled up their rumbling stomachs, but they were not complaining. Escaping twice from danger with their lives in one day, they were quite glad they still could feel hungry.

" Shit, I'm feeling tired," Max groaned.

" I thought you were made of tougher things than that," Phoenix grunted. Max sighed. _Can't he just show sympathy for once._

Just then, something in the distance caught Max's eye. He squinted his eyes to get a better look.

Several people dressed in police uniforms were holding up a barricade at the far end of the road. Blue and red lights were flashing on top of their police cruisers. Several people seemed to have spotted Max and Phoenix, evidently very surprised that there were people able to come out of the city alive.

Then, all of a sudden, a car burst through the barricade. Max stared wide-eyed in shock as the car, which was a police cruiser, came hurtling towards them. The driver was either drunk or inexperienced, since the person made the car swerve around dangerously.

Max and Phoenix leaped aside as the car made a sharp turn to the left and hit a tree. As Max was recovering from the shock, a 16 year old girl leaped out of the car and went scrambling, to max's shock towards the direction of Raccoon city.

Max dropped his weapon and held on to the hysterical young teenager who was screaming and kicking wildly, wanting Max to let go. Max could not, and will not. Who would want to enter Raccoon city now, a city of the dead?

" Let me go! I have to go!" the teenager screamed, violently punching Max in the face. One particular punch slammed hard onto his eye, making him wince in pain.

" You can't go in. The city is lost," Max replied. The words were not making any sense to the girl, since she continued to resist Max. He found it difficult to hold down the hysterical 16 year old as he was barely a year older than her.

" Some help here, please," Max pleaded to his comrade, who was looking at where the teenager had come from. She had somehow stolen a car and rammed it through the barricades set up by the police and the army. Since she had not learned how to drive yet, she crashed into a ditch after 100 meters from the barricade.

" My brother is there! My brother is there!" she wailed.

" Your brother is dead, damn it! And so is the rest of the fucking city!" Max's comrade yelled, slapping the girl in her face. His actions silenced her to mere whimpering, maybe due to shock or surprise. It definitely was not an approach that Max would have taken, but it was effective, nonetheless.

" Come on, there is nothing you can do there," Max gently assured, praying that she won't throw a fit on him. She didn't, and she obediently walked back to the barricade where all the police were gathered along with Max and his comrade.


	6. Chapter 5: Leaving Umbrella

**Chapter 5: 3 Years Ago: Leaving Umbrella**

" Well, that was our first meeting, right?" Kimmy asked.

" Sure was," Max replied.

" Hmm, what a great way to introduce myself on our first meeting," Kimmy sighed. Max gave a barely audible chuckle.

" Were there any survivors that escaped from the city?" Kimmy asked.

" I'm not sure, but I heard there were reports that Umbrella officials were sent after to find people who did escape from the city afterwards, so I guess a few survivors made it, although I don't know what Umbrella did to them when they found out about it," Max answered.

" Umbrella Incorporated should not have existed," Kimmy gritted her teeth.

" Well, that's what we always like to say, but nothing we do really matters," Max replied.

" Where were you this last three years?"

" Hiding obviously. If Umbrella was out there to get my head, I'd hide in the deepest hole there is…okay, I didn't mean that literally. Well, I kept a low profile, and so did my pal Phoenix. In fact, I didn't see him till today in the terminal," Max confessed.

" Why didn't you do something?" Kimmy asked.

" Do what?"

" Go against Umbrella. You had the notebook as proof. I hope that you still have it," Kimmy said, almost demandingly.

" Look it would do no good. What proof do you need? The whole world practically knows that Umbrella is responsible for all these outbreaks and they are still in business. So, what is one person against the might of a billion dollar company?" Kimmy asked.

" The people who are protesting against Umbrella aren't people who escaped from Raccoon city. You could make a difference," Kimmy replied.

" Look, the only reason why no one who escaped had taken any action is because the ended up dead. Two people tried to testify and they conveniently disappeared under the FBI's noses," Max replied.

Kimmy kept quiet, digesting the facts. Picking up the courage, she asked " Did you see my brother?"

" Well, he would be in a police uniform at that time right? I told you we didn't go far into the city, just the outskirts. I didn't see your brother, not that I know of," Max replied.

Kimmy stared dejectedly out of the window. " I didn't even get to bury his body," Kimmy mused.

" I'm sorry to hear that," Max said, meaning it. Tentatively, he reached over and held Kimmy's hand. She felt surprised at first at a stranger holding her hand to comport her, but she then told herself that Max was not a stranger no more. She felt at peace when she felt his warm embrace.

" So, tell me, how did you all escape?" Kimmy asked.

" Gee…" Max said, trying to think.

---

" Who the hell are you guys?" a policeman barked.

Max and Phoenix had arrived at the barricade which they had quickly fixed up after being destroyed by Kimmy. He looked worriedly at the girl, hoping she was alright, but he gave a watchful stare at both Phoenix and Max, who looked suspicious and dangerous with their garbs and rifles they were carrying.

" We are mercenaries, working for Umbrella," Phoenix said. Lying would be of no use now. The policeman probably knew who they were anyway. From the disgruntled and menacing looks the other policemen were giving them, it looked like Umbrella was being a hated entity now.

" Hey, are you alright?" the policeman asked Kimmy.

" Sorry about your car," Kimmy apologized.

" Don't worry about it. I'll probably get a newer one," the policeman grinned. Max felt that it was weird that the policeman was being very cool with this.

" My brother is in there!" she cried suddenly.

" Look here girl, we are doing the best we can. We are barricading the city for the safety of other people. The government is sending people here to help alright. If your brother is still alive, then we will just have to wait for reinforcements to arrive. Okay?" the policeman said in a fatherly tone.

Kimmy barely nodded. The policeman ordered another guy to tend to her and get her some hot chocolate to drink. After when she had left did the man return his attention to the two mercenaries.  
" I'm Officer Quinton, the man temporarily in-charge here. What are your names?" he demanded.

" I'm Phoenix, and this is my comrade Max," Phoenix answered quickly. Max decided it was prudent to leave the talking to Phoenix.

" He's a mercenary?" Officer Quinton pointed at Max ungracefully. " He looks like he should be in high school."

Max wanted to answer 'I should' but he knew it was not a good time to say such things.

" What is it do you want with us?" Phoenix demanded.

" I want to know what happened," Officer Quinton demanded.

" We don't know," Phoenix lied.

" What did you say?"

" Our helicopter crash landed on the outskirts of the city. When we approached the city, it looked like a war zone. We decided it was better to leave. And here we are," Phoenix said.

" Why in the world were you guys sent in there anyway?" Officer Quinton asked.

" No idea. Our superiors will give orders when we enter the city. Since the helicopter is busted, we could not contact our headquarters for orders," Phoenix said. Max decided Phoenix's move of feigning ignorance was a good move. The policemen were probably unaware of what was happening to the city. Giving them information would fuel their hatred towards Umbrella and both Max and Phoenix would be juicy targets. Besides, it would make them look like they were not involved in the matter.

" You said that you never entered the city?" the officer questioned.

" Yes."

" So, you never fired your guns?"

Phoenix could see where the argument was heading. The officer had noticed specks of blood on Phoenix's gun. His mind started racing again for suitable excuses.

" No."

" Why is there blood on your gun?"

" The rotor blades of our helicopter lobbed of the heads of two of the mercenaries with us. I don't need to explain any further on what happened, do I?" Phoenix answered.

" Some magazine clips are missing from your pocket, and your pal's knife is missing."

" You can't expect us to bail out of a falling helicopter and still stay in one piece, can you?" Phoenix argued back.

The officer was lost for words. He apparently did not believe them, but he could question them no further. Phoenix's explanations were felt slightly far-fetched to him, but he had said it in a believable way. Max was thankful to get such a resourceful and handy comrade along with him.

Before anyone could say anything else, a car came up to them. It was a black Jaguar, shiny and new. Max was not sure of the model, but he guessed it was custom made. The windows were tinted black to ensure nobody could see the insides of the car.

When the car stopped, a man emerged from the car. He was wearing a three-piece suit and a hat with large and dark sunglasses that hid most of his face. In his hand was a black leather suitcase. He wore a black tie and he emitted an air of authority. His driver also emerged, dressed in full body armour and a face mask.

" What in the devil's name is this?" Officer Quinton scowled.

The man walked up to the officer and spoke briefly. " I'm Gerald Coller, from the Security Branch of Umbrella Incorporated. I will need a private word with our people for a moment," he barked, motioning to Max and Phoenix.

" Umbrella, huh? You bastards have some explaining to do," Officer Quinton snarled.

" I don't have time to talk to such meddling folks as you who don't understand anything," Gerald replied coldly.

" Why you…"

" Silence!" Gerald ordered, raising his hand. " Time is short and I will need to talk to them immediately. Now, I see you have propped up a make-shift tent. Get your people out now!"

" You can't just…"

" Yes, I can," Gerald replied, holding up a piece of paper. When Officer Quinton saw it, his face fell. He quietly and quickly ordered his officers to move out of the make-shift tent that was propped up nearby. _Talk about the pen being mightier than the sword. Looks like the paper is mightier than both,_ Max thought.

" Please, we shall have our discussion in the tent, Mr. Hunter and Mr. Grant," Gerald motioned to the tent with a wave of his hand. _Great, they even know our names, _Phoenix thought. He felt like he was being ushered into his execution chamber. He looked at Max and their eyes met. They understood each other well: they need to escape from Gerald's clutches. The question was how.

The tent was a simple and crude one hastily placed for convenience sake. It was cluttered with boxes of supplies and piles of wood. There were several chairs placed in the tent. A pot of coffee was steaming on its boiler, giving out an aromatic smell all over the tent.

Phoenix laid down his rifle and pistol by the side of the tent and stroll to the coffee pot, stretching himself. Max was wondering if dropping their weapons was a good move. He had not noticed it earlier, but Max had noticed the fully armoured guard that was Gerald's driver had a sub-machinegun in his hands. A fleeting glance from Phoenix told Max his partner knew what he was doing.

" How have you two been?" Gerald asked casually. Phoenix reached for the coffee pot and started pouring out coffee. Max could see that he was preparing four cups.

" Well, alright I guess, we just made it around the outskirts of the city," Phoenix said. He took two of the coffee cups and drank from one of them. Max took the other two, merely making a guess on Phoenix's next move.

" I see. Did you see what was in there?" Gerald pressed. Max noted that the guard was fingering the trigger of his gun impatiently.

" Yes, I did. Coffee?" Phoenix offered the guard, apparently surprised at Phoenix's offer. Max did the same to Gerald.

" No thanks, we will not drink," Gerald replied coldly.

Phoenix immediately dropped both his cups and elbowed the man in the face. Temporarily stunned, Phoenix made a grab for the guard's sub-machinegun. Seeing Phoenix taking action, Gerald reached for a sidearm he kept in his suit. Max instantly threw hot coffee onto him. He gave a yelp and dropped the gun, which Max quickly took up.

" Sorry, we will be borrowing this," Phoenix said. He gave a wave with the gun he was holding to motion Gerald to the side. Gerald obediently obeyed.

" How are you going to get away with this, huh?" Gerald demanded. " You can't kill me. How are you going to escape the cops outside?" he continued, feeling bolder by the second. " I can yell anytime now to get their attention!"

" But you didn't," Phoenix replied, butting his head with the rear end of the machinegun. Gerald collapse unconscious on the floor. Without missing a beat, Phoenix did the same with the guard that accompanied the man, who collapsed on top of his boss.

" Seriously, I didn't know they were so intent on wiping out all information," Phoenix replied.

" So, what do we do now?" Max asked, nudging the bodies with his feet, making sure that they were really unconscious.

" Let's see what they have brought," Phoenix said. He started ruffling through both men's pockets. Nothing of interest caught his eye. There was the earlier form where Gerald had shown to Officer Quinton but he had already guessed what it contained. Disappointed, he turned his attention to the briefcase Gerald had brought.

The briefcase contained mainly papers and documents Phoenix had no intention of reading. However, there was an object that came to Phoenix's eye. He picked it up and waved it at Max.

" I wonder why they brought this along," Phoenix said as Max's eyes widened at shock seeing the object in Phoenix's hand.

---

Officer Quinton looked up as he saw two men emerge from the tent. It was Gerald and his guard. He was about to walked up to the two of them to interrogate them when they quickly entered their car and left. They did not stop when Officer Quinton ran after them, yelling and spitting loudly.

_What were Umbrella's bastards doing?_

He noticed that the other two mercenaries had not emerged from the tent. Feeling suspicious, he slowly walked to the tent.

As he entered, he knew some thing was wrong. Two people lay on the floor, apparently unconscious. However, his attention was not focused on the two unconscious people. It was an object propped up on a table.

It was square in shape and black in colour. His eyes opened wide as he saw a small timer in the middle of it.

It time showed 00:00:08…

Other officers looked at the direction of the tent in surprise as they saw Officer Quinton exit the tent, yelling at the top of his voice for everyone to leave. Several seconds later, the tent exploded, sending several officers to the ground and others shielding themselves as bits and pieces of wood and metal few all over the place.

Officer Quinton picked himself from the ground. The heat was slowly fading away as there was not much to burn in the tent. Officers rushed about trying to stop the fire, but there was little they could do without any supply of water. A few officers tried to throw sand and mud against the tent but it was already burning to the ground.

All Officer Quinton could do was stomping his feet and curse.

---

The black Jaguar was cruising down the highway when the people inside heard the explosion. It was rather muffled. Clouds of smoke started bellowing towards the sky, blotching out the sun slightly.

" Where to next, boss?" the driver, a guard with full body armour jokingly asked the man seated at the back.

" Oh, please don't play with me," Phoenix groaned, taking off Gerald's hat and throwing it aside. He pulled off the tie that was practically suffocating him and took a deep, refreshing breath.

Max took off the face mask he was wearing that hid his face. Both of them had swapped clothes with Gerald and his guards. They made it quick. After timing the detonator of the C4 bomb that Gerald had carried properly, they made their way out quickly, hoping Officer Quinton won't be a busybody and stick his nose in the tent too soon. Phoenix had gauged the power of the blast would only affect the tent, so as long as none of the officers directly enter it, they would be safe, save for minor bruises and burns from the explosion.

Max quickly sped along the highway just in case the police wanted to follow. Spotting an exit to his right, Max banked sharply. He did not notice what the sign said, but he was quite certain he was heading towards a town.

" You know, we will need to ditch this car and change our clothes. If not, we will stand out like a bunch of fools," Max said.

" Yeah," Phoenix said in a rather boring manner.

---

A couple of hours later, after ditching their Jaguar and changing clothes in an dirty, castaway shack near the highway, they made their way towards the town center. It was a small town really, and in the middle of the afternoon there was barely anybody around.

Max felt his stomach growl. Save for a couple of wafer bars, he had not eaten for about 24 hours already. He gave a side-long glance towards Phoenix, who had not been complaining of hunger even until now.

" Hungry?" Phoenix asked, observing the traffic of the streets around him, which was close to nil.

" Yeah, can we go and eat something?" Max pleaded.

" Of course. What do you suggest? Shall we rob an old lady? There is one there right now," Phoenix said, pointing at an old lady walking along the street.

" Phoenix, I'm not a thief," Max shot back at him.

" Well, we don't have money. What would you suggest then?" Phoenix asked.

To Phoenix's surprise, Max dug deep into his pockets and pulled out a nice wad of cash. It was not much, but it was much more enough to buy them several meals.

" Where the heck did you get that?" Phoenix demanded.

" Relax, I took it off Gerald. Since he will not be needed it anymore, I thought I may as well keep it," Max replied cheerfully. He practically skipped towards the nearest restaurant. " Coming?" Max teased, opening the door.

---

Phoenix took a sip of coffee and looked outside the window of the restaurant. The sun had fallen now and a shadow of darkness fell over the place. The town was not really lighted up, the buildings closed and the streets empty as well. The restaurant they were in was the only building that was lighted up. He wondered if any of the residents had realized what had happened to Raccoon city.

Most of the patrons had left as it was late. They had initially come here for lunch, but with no other plans, they also stayed for dinner. As Phoenix finished the last dregs of his coffee, he wondered if they were going to spend the night here.

Max was still chewing on his fried chicken. Phoenix watched in slight fascination as Max even gnawed on the bones, bone crackling under his molars as he sucked whatever liquid was left in the bones. He only stopped when he noticed Phoenix was looking at him like an interesting specimen.

" Oh, please, don't stop. You can continue what you were doing," Phoenix said.

Max did not feel like it at the moment. Max's eating antics had caught the attention of several of the patrons, who were carefully watching him. Max placed the remains of his fried chicken back on his plate and sighed.

" Where will you be going from here?" Max asked.

Phoenix folded his arms and leaned back on his chair. _Where would I be going now?_

" I'll be getting married and I'll settle down somewhere in New York," Phoenix calmly replied.

" WHAT?" Max yelled, so loudly that the other patrons spun in their seats, wondering what was wrong. He toppled his coffee cup from the table, spilling his coffee everywhere. He grabbed the cup just in time before it crashed on the floor.

" Something wrong with that?" Phoenix asked, slightly irritated at Max's response.

" No, really, I didn't know that…well,…" Max stammered, his face going red in embarrassment.

" …That I don't look like a person who could even get a girlfriend," Phoenix completed his sentence. Max nodded sheepishly.

---

It was roughly around midnight when Phoenix hailed a cab. Max had handed him enough money to head where he wanted.

" Well, it was nice sticking along with an idiot like you," Phoenix said as the cab stopped right in front of the restaurant.

" You have a number or something?" Max asked.

" Number? My phone number? What for?" Phoenix asked, frowning.

" Geez, can't I ask for a phone number from my friend?" Max scowled good-naturedly.

" No, Max. I can't. It's best if we don't see each other again," Phoenix replied.

" Why not?"

" Umbrella might be after us still. We can't expose ourselves to danger. It is best to keep a low profile, and being apart will do us a lot of good," Phoenix replied. He opened the cab door and sat inside. The driver sped off down the road almost instantly, leaving Max reeling slightly in his wake.

" Humph, not even a goodbye," Max scowled, as he patiently waited for another cab.


	7. Chapter 6: On Specter Island

**Chapter 6: On Specter Island**

" So, in short, you have told me nothing about my brother," Kimmy sighed.

" Hey, I already informed you earlier that I could not help much," Max protested.

" Not only you did not help much, you told me some crazy adventure of yours in the city. Are you trying to bore me?" Kimmy asked teasingly.

" Oh boy, girls are sure hard to please," Max sighed.

A resounding ring that rung through the plane caught their attention. The captain of the plane started speaking:

" Attention flight passengers. We are approximately 15 minutes away from our destination. We would like to thank you…"

" For flying with us…blah,blah,blah…man, this is just too routine," Max sighed.

" You sound like you have been flying in a plane all your life," Kimmy said.

" Well, my parents were people who went all over the world. When I was young, I had to travel with them. By the time I was ten, I was already begging them not to take me along anymore," Max replied.

" Why are you going to Specter Island for?"

" Work. What about you?"

" I'm going there to further my studies at the university with my friends," Kimmy replied.

" May I ask what subject you are studying?" Max asked.

" Art."

" What art?"

" When I come up with something, you'll see," Kimmy said.

" Why can't you just tell me?" Max groaned.

" Keeps the suspense, just in case you lose interest in me," Kimmy replied.

" What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Max asked, narrowing his eyes.

She did not reply. The plane started to drop and Max could feel the pressure again affecting his ears. He casually brushed his belt, making sure that it had been fasten. He looked out his window to get a good look at Specter Island.

He only had a rough explanation of how Specter Island looked like. From his window, he could see that Specter Island in all its glory. Specter Island did not consist of an island only, but rather, made up of eight pieces of land. They were called Specter Island because the man-made islands were actually connected together as a singular land mass where eight land masses stuck out from under the sea.

According to the direction of the sun, the north side of Specter Island consisted of an island, where Max could make out the faint outline of the airport and the seaport. At the south part if the first island were three other islands and further south were three more. There was a smaller island at the far-east side of all the other islands. He could see what looked like a research centre there.

He noticed that all the islands, except the one with the research centre, were joined to other adjourning islands with bridges. He counted twelve bridges in total. He started wondering why the research island did not have a bridge. He could not find any boats to ferry the people across to the island.

" The research island is connected by an underwater electric train. You can't see it from here. Its rather deep," Kimmy piped into Max's thoughts.

" Really? You sound like you've been here before," Max commented.

" I'll be staying here for a while, so it would be better if I could familiarize myself with the entire area. Don't you think so?" she asked.

" Really? The only thing I know about the island is that it is an island. Care to tell me the geographical surroundings of the island?" Max suggested. Kimmy sighed as she took out a pen and paper. Max heard her mutter something that sounded like 'men…'

" Here," she said, drawing a rough sketch of the islands. " The islands are named by numbers, as scientists always can't think of interesting names besides coded numbers and Latin names. The top island here is Island 1, the three islands below are numbered 2 to 4 from left to right and the bottom three are numbered 5 to 7 from left to right. No prizes for guessing the last island's number."

" The airport and the seaport are located at island one. This was the first island to be built and initially the research centres were supposed to be placed here, but after they decided to start housing people here, they shifted the research centre someplace further away. They also have hangars and warehouses on this island."

" Island 2 has large fields and orchards. Several people live there and the theme park is also situated there. Then, there is the army base…"

" Specter Island needs an army?" Max asked quizzically.

" A small one. Island 4 houses the electrical plants and the water treatment plant, along with a small jail they have, which isn't very big since crime is 'supposedly' very low. Buildings on Island 3 are still under construction."

" Islands 5, 6 and 7 are where most of the residential and commercial areas are, although the main island where the city centre is located is at Island 6. There university, aptly named 'University of Specter Island', is at Island 7. The underwater train can be boarded at Island 7."

" Interesting," Max mused.

" Really? I was under the impression that you were not listening at all," Kimmy replied.

Their plane hit the tarmac, making them bounce in their seats.

---

" Thanks," Kimmy said as Max passed her bag from the baggage compartment. The passengers in the plane had all left earlier. Both of them had stayed back to wait for the crowd to disperse.

" So, where will you be staying?" Max asked.

" Getting very friendly are we?" Kimmy replied, arching her eyebrows.

" I haven't talked much to anybody for the last few years in my life save for my recently found comrade Phoenix and my sister. So, anything wrong with being very friendly?" Max asked.

Kimmy thought for a while. She wondered about the chemistry that was going on with them. Try as she might, she felt rather insecure by giving Max her address.

" I'll keep it for now. Besides, you know where I'm studying. That should be good enough," Kimmy said.

" I'll settle with a number," Max said hopefully.

---

Three men waited impatiently in a van parked just outside the Specter Island International Airport, waiting for their target to arrive. They were dressed up in full body armour and armed to the teeth with machineguns. They had been waiting since early in the morning for their target to arrive. According to schedule, the targets plane had landed and the man would be heading out anytime soon.

" Our target has been spotted," the leader of the team said to his team-mates. The two other people headed to the front of the van for a closer look. A taxi had just exited the airport, heading south immediately towards Island 2. The team leader was looking through his binoculars to catch a glimpse of his target.

" Target confirmed. We are moving in," he said. The other two nodded.

One of the team members got into the drivers seat. Revving up the engine, he sped down the highway to catch up with the taxi.

---

Jason glanced behind. He noticed a van emerge from the airport and tailing his taxi closely. He doubted that it was a mere coincidence. The van was obviously tailing him. Alerting the taxi driver and asking him to escape the van was impossible. It would only cause more trouble.

He knew his pursuerers were probably armed and would stand no chance against them unarmed. He hated it, but he realized he had only one option left to do.

He took the duffel bag and opened its contents. He drew out a rather large and bulky metal cylinder from the bag. It felt cold. There was a small pad on the top where the numbers 0 to 9 were placed.

" Man, what is that shit?" the taxi driver asked.

_Seriously, you don't want to know,_ Jason thought.

---

Max observed his surroundings. He was travelling on one of the bridges that connected Island 3 and 7. It had taken him about an hour to reach here from the airport. _This piece of land is bigger than I thought!_

The island was rather scenic for Max's standards. The sea, in bright azure blue, was glittering under the sun. The water was crystal clear and Max could see schools of fishes swimming around the sea.

Specter Island felt just like any city he had been in, but with a laid back and easy going feeling that he could never find in today's modern and fast paced cities. The people were friendly and courteous, but he decided it was too soon to say that since he had only met a taxi driver and an old man on the way here only.

Specter Island was a very grandiose project, looking at the sheer size and area the island covered. Max found it hard to believe that a country could house over a hundred thousand people on a piece of land like this and sustain itself. The island was proving him wrong.

He wondered wistfully why the government of the United States would approve building such an island. Marine research could be easily be accomplished even by the seaside. Even if they really needed a research centre in the middle of the sea, building a lone research centre was sufficient enough. What they had done here was making an entire city on a man-made island. Max could not see anything significant in wasting so much money on this piece of land.

_I'm thinking too much. I never bother with such matters,_ Max thought.

" We are almost there," the taxi driver cheered him up, mistaking his expression as one who was bored out of his mind. Max took a good look around where he was.

" We have just arrived at Island 7. My destination is at Island 6. How can you say that we have almost arrived?" Max demanded, spotting a signboard by the road indicating which island he was on now.

" Half an hour is pretty fast for me," the man replied. Max slumped back into his seat and observed his surroundings to pass the time.

His eyes lit up when he saw the Specter Island University. It looked pretty small for a university, consisting of mainly of a singular, brick building. There were a lot of young people milling about and talking to friends. His eyes quickly scanned the area for Kimmy but he stopped himself shortly afterwards.

_What the heck am I doing? I've just met here and here I am all messed up about wanting to see her again?_

The taxi man heard a collective sigh and saw his passenger lean back further into his seat, looking more flustered than ever.

---

Phoenix sat quietly in the underwater electric train as it speed at top speed towards Island 8, the island where most of the research centres and industrial factories were located. He was dully impressed with the train, which ran very smoothly and quietly along its tracks. There were barely any occupants in the train, except the driver.

He felt tired after the flight to Specter Island. Try as he might, he could not force himself to fall asleep. All that went through his head was that fateful day that made him decide to come here.

" _Who is this?" Phoenix asked._

" _You mean this girl in the picture?" Dr. Pickton asked._

" _Yes."_

" _That is my daughter," Dr. Pickton replied._

_Phoenix continued to stare into the picture for a long time. Dr. Pickton was rather surprise by his reaction. He waited for a while before continuing._

" _I assume you are aware of the on-goings of what is happening with the Umbrella Incorporation. They are now facing heavy problems coming from both the government and other NGOs. This is due to the incident that happened to Raccoon city and other unspecified events," Dr. Pickton started._

_Dr. Pickton stopped as he saw Phoenix still staring at the picture. After a while, Phoenix raised his head and said " Go on."_

" _Currently, I work for Strycorps, an industry that specializes in biotechnology in plants and marine life. I'm sure that you have heard of this company," Dr. Pickton said. Phoenix nodded his head to signify that he was listening._

" _I'm sure you don't know this…Umbrella owns Strycorps," Dr. Pickton replied._

_It was not really new to Phoenix. Umbrella was desperate to stay afloat. One of the numerous steps they had taken is to shift all their funds and stocks into a separate company with supposedly no ties to Umbrella. Apparently, Strycorps was one of them._

" _I am aware of Umbrella's dealings with biological weapons and frankly, I want no part of it. However, I am also very aware that Umbrella will not allow me to leave the company that easily. I know the way they silence people who have too much information and Umbrella is very good at it, just next to the Government of the United States."_

" _What does that have to do with me? Or this person you are showing me?" Phoenix asked._

" _I plan to leave the company and go into hiding since they will be after me when they realize I have left. They will use whatever leverage they have on me. My daughter, Iris, is one of them," Dr. Pickton replied._

_Phoenix gazed at the picture. A young, blue-eyed lady stared back at him with a pleasant smile on her face. Her hair was blonde, cut short until the neck's length. The picture was taken at a beach and her father was visible in the background. Phoenix assumed it was her mother who took this picture. Dr. Pickton did not mention his wife, so Phoenix made a guess that she had passed away._

" _Taking her along with me would cause suspicion and I am sure they will not allow it. I plan to leave first and get things in order. After that, I'll need you to escort my daughter off the island she is on, Specter Island. I'll give you the coordinates of the designated area where we can meet," Dr. Pickton said, in which he added a second later " That is, if you agree to help…"_

Phoenix heard a loud whirl and looked around. The train was decelerating and coming to a halt. The train entered a brightly lit station almost devoid of people except for a lone man standing at the station. Phoenix picked up his things and strode to the nearest door as it opened up.

" Glad you could make it," Dr. Pickton said, smiling. Phoenix gave him a curt nod and stepped out.

-

The underground train station was directly connected to one of Strycorps main industrial buildings. Since the only people who come here are the workers of Strycorps and the scientists manning the research facility, normal civilians aren't allowed to board the train and wander around this island. Even though it is a research area, Island 8 has built-in living facilities and supplies for daily needs so scientists will not need to leave the island if they want to.

Dr. Pickton swiped his ID card over another security scanner, the 5th Phoenix has seen so far. A green light started blinking and the door in front of them slid open. Phoenix squinted his eyes as bright sunshine shone through the doors. Strycorps liked to have the interior of their buildings dark and gloomy.

" Over here," Dr. Pickton motioned, heading across towards the building across the station. It was a large rectangular building all covered in white. It stood over twenty stories high and looked as appealing as a coffin.

_Scientists just have no sense of art._

" Interesting place," Phoenix muttered.

Dr. Pickton swiped his ID card again over another scanner to open the main entrance.

" Do we need that ID card to enter any room in this Island?" Phoenix asked.

" Yes. I'll be getting one for you soon, so just wait a while," Dr. Pickton replied.

" So, basically, if you lose your card, you will be stranded," Phoenix said.

" Not exactly," Dr. Pickton replied. Phoenix wanted to question him further, but the grave look on his face told him that it was an unsuitable time to ask questions.

The building was very large. The reception area was bustling with people, mostly dressed in white coats and carrying large files, heading in all directions. Nobody seemed to want to talk to one another, just giving mostly barely perceptible nods after being issued an order or a statement. Phoenix was reminded of an effective beehive, all the workers seemingly being able to work without a social life.

Dr. Pickton weaved through the entire crowd of wandering scientists, reaching for the elevator that was located at the northwest corner from the entrance. Swiping his card on yet another scanner and pressing a button, they patiently waited for the lift to arrive.

" What made you come here?" Dr. Pickton asked.

" I thought we had agreed you we will not broach the subject," Phoenix answered back.

" Just curious. I mean, under the circumstances…"

" If it will make you feel better, I came here with an agenda of my own. I'll have to be an idiot to just come here for free," Phoenix replied.

" Um, yes, of course," Dr. Pickton replied as the doors of the elevators opened.

Riding the elevator to the 28th floor, Phoenix emerged in a large spacious area. He looked like he was inside an enourmous bubble. Rooms were lined along the walls in a circular fashion, surrounding an empty space in the middle where it was covered by a large glass dome. Phoenix sighed at the sight. The circular shape was a waste of space and it did not help with the bland architecture that was already etched in the building.

_Scientists have totally no artistic sense!_

Dr. Pickton strode quickly towards a room with the numbers 876 stencilled upon the metal door. Again, Dr. Pickton swiped his card on a small scanner by the side of the door. Before he had the chance to open it, it swung open.

" Phoenix, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Iris Pickton," Dr. Pickton said.

" Hello there, handsome," the young lady said.

The female who stood before Phoenix was stunning. Her blue eyes radiated a sort of liveliness that he seldom saw in other people. She was very fair, her complexion rather snowy white. She was casually dressed in shorts and a tank top, an almost complete antithesis of all the people he had seen in this building. There was a whiff of sweet smelling scent that was being emitted by her hair, showing that it was just recently washed.

" Is there something wrong?" Iris asked Phoenix, who was looking at her intently.

_There is. You look just like my wife…_


	8. Chapter 7: The Start of the End

**Chapter 7: The Start of the End**

" We are here, sir," a familiar voice called out from the haze.

Max woke with a start and tried to get his bearings. Feeling tired after the flight, he had apparently dosed off in the cab. The cab driver was looking at him, a hand on his shoulder to wake him up.

Max winced and stretched himself in the small cab as the driver went to the trunk to take out his luggage bags. He stepped out to look at where he was in.

There was a line of bungalows lined up against a busy road with cars speeding at top speed. Surrounding him were large trees that blocked out most of the late morning sun, giving him a very rustic feeling about the place. At a distance he could see several high-rise buildings.

Max turned to look at the place where he was supposed to be working in. Professor Mason's abode was actually a mansion, flanked by two bungalows that seemed diminutive in size compared to the mansion. Made mostly out of brick and stone, it looked like a medieval castle at best, minus the tall spires that usually accompany it. The place was covered with exotic plants and Max could see a Rolls Royce in the middle of the lawn.

_And this guy is supposed to be a university professor?_

" Have a nice day," the cab driver said after Max paid his fare. Collecting his luggage bags, he walked up to the tall, black, stainless steel gate.

" Hello, and who may you be?" a teasing tone asked.

Max looked to his left to see who had spoken. Behind the tall brick wall that surrounded the mansion, there was a small glass shack hidden right behind side of the gate. A female security guard, dressed in her uniform, was leaning against the brick wall, arching her eyebrows.

Before Max could answer, a hoarse yet familiar voice called out " Julie, let him in. I was expecting him."

Max looked at the man who had spoken. A wrinkled old man came up to Max, hobbling along with a walking stick. He wore a brown tweed suit with a red tie. He was totally bald, his scalp shining brightly under the late morning sun. He had a wrinkled, forgettable face that was covered with a thick, grey mustache. Max was greatly reminded of a rather eccentric scientist.

_All he needs now is a pair of glasses to look just picture perfect._

" Maximillion Hunter, it is good to see you again," Prof. Mason said, jovially, shaking his hand hard. His grip was surprisingly hard for a man his age. " You don't mind if I call you Max."

" Not at all Professor," Max replied.

" This is Julie Marshall. You'll be working with her," Prof. Mason said. Julie extended her hand for me to shake.

" Hi. Don't worry, I won't boss you around. I'm new here as well," she said.

_One heck of an introduction!_

" Follow me, Max," Prof. Mason said. Max grabbed his bags and started walking behind Prof. Mason towards his mansion.

Max was rather suspicious at Prof. Mason when they first met. It was at the airport where he was about to leave. Max was rather taken aback when the professor had said that he knew Max used to be a mercenary under Umbrella. When asked on how he got that information, he merely shrugged his shoulders and said " I have my sources."

Max found the professor to be an amicable person. He was humble, modest and quiet, only a bit old fashioned. From the extent of his words, Max could say that the professor was a very knowledgeable person. He was reminded of his father, minus the resistive attitude he had towards Max.

" Do you have a family?" Professor Mason asked.

" What?" Max replied, wondering if the professor was reading his thoughts somehow.

" A family? Do you have a family?" Prof. Mason repeated.

" Well, yeah, but not my own," Max replied.

" Do you keep in touch?" Prof. Mason.

" Only my sister, professor."

" Why is that?" Prof. Mason asked, puzzled.

" Let's just say if I do keep in touch with my parents, you would not be hiring me for this job," Max replied. Prof. Mason nodded, understanding Max's statement.

Both of them entered Prof. Mason's mansion. Max felt out of place. Apparently, Prof. Mason has an affinity towards wood. The interior of the house was mainly made of oak wood. The furniture that adorns the place was all made of wood. There was a slight smell of shellac all over the place. The mansion looked more like a museum of wood than a place to stay.

" I didn't know you were adopting another son!" a loud cry came from the upper story of the mansion.

Max looked up to see a young boy, probably 14, dressed in a bright red t-shirt and blazing orange pants. He had brown messy hair and sparkling brown eyes that had a rather mischievous look to it. He had a smug grin that was plastered on his face and he had his hands on his hips. Max smiled at the sight. It had been a long time since he remembered that he acted like that.

Max also noticed that there was someone behind the kid, a younger and smaller girl. Max could not get a good look at her since she cowered behind him. She poked her head out behind the kid to get a peek at Max, then tucked her head back behind the boy's back like a turtle.

" Perfect! Rick, this is Max Hunter. He's the new security guard we are having. Why don't you show him his quarters?" Prof. Mason asked.

" Sure thing, Pops!" Rick yelled. " Come on, Maxie! I'll show you your room!" Rick said, storming up and disappearing into the second storey.

" You better hurry up to catch up with him. Kids these days are pretty fast. Well, you must excuse an old man like me. I have things to do," Prof. Mason said, he walked towards a door opposite the entrance and entered it. From the looks of the furniture inside, Max guessed that it was his study room.

" Hey Maxie! Are you coming?" Rick's voice yelled from above.

_Oh, and I'm Maxie now, eh?_

_-_

Max found Rick to be a hyperactive young kid. He was constantly on his toes, running back and forth the corridor while waiting for Max to step up to the second storey. He listens to a lot of rock music from the lyrics he sings while running up and down the place. Rick was rather crude and tact, but Max found him likable. He was having second thoughts on Prof. Mason being old fashioned if he could house a grandson like this under his house.

" Hah, we probably haven't introduced ourselves properly yet! I'm Rick Marson, and my grandpa is the boss of this house, so that practically makes me the boss of this house as well. You are Maxie Hunter, right? Yeah, okay, no need to introduce yourself," Rick said, running up to Max and shaking his hand.

" Sure…" Max replied.

" This is my sister, Vanessa Marson. She's quiet most of the time and she doesn't really feel comfortable with other people. No offence, Maxie, but don't start talking to her when she's alone. She gets scared easily. Alright with that?" Rick said, patting his sister on her shoulder.

" Sure, I'll keep that in mind," Max replied. He decided to start a conversation.

" So, who did you have as security guards before Julie and me?" Max asked.

" No one, you two are the first," Rick replied.

" You mean you didn't have security guards before this?"

" No, we never had problems with security and we will never will," Rick replied.

Max felt Rick's reply was weird. _Never had problems? Then, what the heck am I doing here?_

Rick seemed to have felt Max's apprehension, so he stopped skipping around and looked at Max. " Hey, no offence, Maxie, even if you are of no use here, I'd like the company, you know. It's kinda boring staying in a very big place like this with nobody fill it up with."

" Nice to hear I'm being liked by a 14 year old," Max mused.

" Hey!"

Max's room was located at the far end on the right hand side of the second storey. Max gave a sigh of relief as he saw the interior of the room. Instead of wood, Prof. Mason had opted to give Max other types of furniture, mainly plastic and steel. It was not luxurious, but it was more that he could ask for.

" What do you plan on becoming when you grow up?" Max asked, dropping his bags unceremoniously by the side. It'll take him about an hour to mess up the room.

"A rock star, obviously! I'm gonna play the drums, take drugs and smoke crack, drink lots of beer and die of AIDS cos I had sex with too many ladies!" Rick exclaimed loudly, pumping his fist in the air. Max raised his eyebrows quizzically. Vanessa did not seem to react towards the statement. Either she was deaf or she heard it enough times.

" Seriously, kid..."

" Why doesn't anybody believe me? Okay, besides being a rock star, the rest of what I said was fake. The last thing I want to do is blow my brains with weed," Rick answered back.

_Am I seriously hearing those words from a 14 year old? The world sure is changing fast!_

" Come on, I'll show you my skills," Rick dashed out of the room and thundered down the corridor, closely followed by his sister. Curiosity got to the better of him, so he quickly followed where Rick was heading.

Max followed Rick into a room. He was greatly reminded of a jamming room, minus the amps and guitars. There was a lone drum set in the middle of the room. Vanessa closed the door quickly as soon as Max entered the room. Grandpa Mason was tolerant enough to build a sound-proof room for his grandkid, but he was probably apprehensive of loud noise beating throughout the house.

Taking his seat and picking up a pair of drumsticks from the floor, Rick started hitting the drums hard in an up-tempo beat. Max saw Rick's hands go into a flurry as he hit each drum with utmost precision and ease. Max even liked the beat, even though he was not really a fan of rock music. Vanessa, however, had her hands over her ears, cringing slightly at the sound. Rick ended his play with a mighty crash on the cymbals, letting one of his drumsticks fly out of his hand and hitting the wall nearby.

" What do you think of it? Pretty cool huh?" Rick yelp excitedly.

" Yeah, pretty cool..." Max mused to himself.

---

" Very well then, I'll be leaving now," Dr. Pickton said. " I hope I can count on you."

" I'll do my best," Phoenix said nonchalantly. He walked off, looking at the surroundings of the research center's helipad.

" Is he always like this?" Iris asked her father.

" Just bear with him, honey. He may be a bit strange and all that, but I have complete faith in his skills. His loss of his wife recently probably made him like this," Dr. Pickton replied.

" His wife passed away recently?" Iris asked, rather shocked.

Dr. Pickton raised a finger to his lips. " Not a word," he said.

He walked off towards the helicopter that was waiting for him. The pilot started the rotors as soon as he saw Dr. Pickton walk towards the vehicle. His family talk this time lasted more than usual.

" You know the destination, right?" Dr. Pickton enquired as he closed the doors of the helicopter. The noise of the rotors became more deafening as he barely heard the man say ' Yeah, boss.'

Iris watched the helicopter lift up from the helipad and fly westward. She waved at the helicopter as the strong wind currents blew her hair in an awry fashion. She slowly watched as the helicopter disappeared into the horizon.

She turned her attention towards Phoenix. He was standing at the edge of the helipad, gazing down at all the dizzying stories below, probably trying mapping out the entire island in his mind. She pitied Phoenix, feeling bad about his somber and morose moods.

Making up her mind, she walked up to him and tapped him on his shoulder.

" Yes?" he asked. He was somber and morose, but that did not stop him from remembering his manners.

" Would you like some coffee or tea?" Iris offered. She decided to talk with her 'helper' and doing it over a nice warm beverage would be very helpful.

" Just to let you know, I only drink tea in the early morning and coffee at night," Phoenix replied. Iris raised her eyebrows, feeling Phoenix not wanting to be very friendly.

" But, I drink fruit juices anytime of the day," Phoenix said, walking off.

---

Jason looked behind him. The van was still tailing him closely. He was already off the highway and in some residential area. The cab driver was whistling a tune, rather oblivious to the impending danger that was following close by. Jason thought of what to do next. He hated involving the cab driver in this mess.

_Not that it matters, anyway._

Making up his mind, Jason told the driver " Hey, drop me off here."

" What? I thought you said..."

" I know very well what I said. I just changed my mind," Jason replied coolly.

-

The driver of the van watched in surprise as the taxi slowed down and stopped by a house by the corner of the road. The target emerged from the taxi, carrying the duffel bag along, slung upon his shoulder. He duly paid the cab driver his fees and watched him drive off. Then, he turned and glared at the van nonchalantly.

_He knows we are after him...what is he doing?_ The team leader thought.

" Exert extreme caution. This might be a trap," the team leader said, taking up his weapon. As the driver slowed the van to a stop just a few feet behind Jason, the team leader opened the doors of the van and jumped out, quickly followed by another team member. The two men aimed their rifles at Jason, who just raised both his hands.

" Alright, I give up. You can have the vial back," Jason said, taking the duffel bag off his shoulder.

" Halt!" the team leader yelled loudly. He was wary of this person. He could not believe that this man would give up so easily. He felt that they were going into a trap.

_But what is he capable of? He is not even armed._

" Slowly drop the bag on the floor and take several steps backwards," the team leader ordered.

Jason did as he was told. Slowly unslinging the bag from his back, he gingerly placed it on the floor. Raising his hands and placing them behind his head, he took a few steps backwards to watch the proceedings.

The team leader needed to confirm the item's safety. Giving a swift order to his team mate to watch Jason, he strode forward and went to his knees. He quickly opened the bag and retrieved the metal cylinder inside. It seemed untouched and in perfect condition. The exterior of the cylinder was cold, and water was already forming on the cylinder. Placing it on the floor, he punched a few numbers on the small numpad that was located on the cylinder. A loud beep was emitted and the cylinder started to hiss.

The top of the cylinder popped open. The white vapours of liquid nitrogen seeped out of the cylinder. A smaller cylinder rose from the inside. It was similiar to the exterior container, only smaller. The team leader hit the top of the smaller cylinder. The hatch popped open and it revealed a very small compartment to place another smaller cylindrical object.

The compartment was empty.

" Looking for this, boys?" Jason asked teasingly.

The team leader looked up to his target. Jason was holding a small, cylindrical vial that contained a transparent liquid, swinging it from side to side.

" Put that down!" the team leader demanded.

" As you say," Jason laughed, releasing his grip on the vial. Both men holding Jason at gunpoint could only stare in horror as the vial dropped to the floor. Time seemed to slow down as the glass vial fell, hit the floor and shattered. It took only a second for the transparent liquid to turn into smoky white fumes that disappeared as soon as they saw it.

Enraged, the team leader leaped towards Jason and slammed him on a wall. An old lady who emerged from her home to investigate the commotion was shooed back into her house by a wave of a gun from one of the men.

" DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING IDEA WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" the team leader roared loudly. Jason could feel the spit flying out of the man's mouth as he furiously yelled at him.

" I was perfectly aware of what I had done. I'd doom this whole island than let you bastards get it back," Jason laughed. Seething in rage, the team leader cocked his rifle and raised it towards Jason's head.

Jason could only give a chuckled. " I think it is you who don't know what the hell is going on. Instead of wasting your time here, shouldn't you be leaving? I doubt your bosses will now let you off this island now that it is 'contaminated'," Jason replied, wiping the spit off his face.

The team leader's face went pale. _No way!_

" Fuck! Get to the helipad, now!" he roared to the other two. All the men scrambled into the van and tore off down the road, skidding aside to avoid an on-coming car.

" It's the end…what the hell have I done?" Jason mused to himself, looking at the broken pieces of glass.

_Writer's note: I initially wanted Jason to put up some resistance against the 3 operatives, but then, logically, he doesn't have a weapon since he came out of the airport (unless he smuggled one in). I made plans for him to try to escape and the 3 operatives to catch him, forcing him to chose to break the vial, but somehow, it ended up very messily, and it took too long, so I opted for a quick finish here._

_In a way, he released it pretty quick. I wanted the main characters to settle down for a few days before this happened, but it would take to long and it will drag the story._


	9. Chapter 8: The Last Night

**Chapter 8: The Last Night**

Max stretched himself after a good short nap. He got up from his bed and started to dress himself in his security guard uniform. It was just a simple blue, cotton uniform that went along with his long, black pants. Fitting on his belt, he hooked up his baton and tried to find his holster for his .357 Magnum. The thought of his magnum, given by Prof. Mason, made him start thinking again.

Prof. Mason never had security guards. Max could not help but question why was he needed now. It was not as if the professor had just recently arrived. According to Rick, he was here for al least 5 years.

_So, what now?_

Max found his holster, but without the gun in it. It was out of habit. He would just leave his things all sprawled all over the place. The neat room had already been over taken by all his clothes and belongings, which were not much, strewn all over the place. He found his revolver lying at the corner next to his bed. If he was lucky, he would find the bullets inside missing. Unfortunately, they were completely loaded.

Tucking the revolver inside his holster, he exited the room and headed towards the guardhouse to start his duties. The duty roster was as follows: Max will take the hours from 12 midnight to 6 in the morning and 12 in the afternoon until 6 in the evening while Julie will take the rest. He could do whatever he wanted with the 12 free hours he had.

There was a muffled noise of drums banging loudly. Rick was still up hitting his drums. Walking downstairs, he noted there was a faint light being emitted from Prof. Mason's study. He had not emerged since hours ago when Max saw him enter.

The mansion had a creepy feeling during the night. Not many lights were on, save a few just to give enough illumination to find your way around the place. It was also rather cold, making Max shiver slightly. He secretly hoped the guardhouse would be warmer.

" You are late," Julie said, yawning loudly as she saw Max approached the guardhouse.

" Hey, it's just a couple of minutes," Max grunted.

" Whatever," Julie replied. She took up a cup of coffee she had brought along and got up to go back inside the mansion.

" Well, thank God you are here. I won't need to keep awake 24/7 now," Julie sighed, leaving.

Max shrugged. He took his seat in the small booth that was the guardhouse. It consisted of a small desk and a steel chair, plus a few pieces of paper and a couple of pencils and a radio. He propped himself on the chair and switched on the radio, making sure it will not wake the neighbourhood.

---

Kimmy had finished unpacking her suitcase. She threw her empty luggage bag to a corner and jumped unceremoniously on her bed. She stayed the university's dorm, a single room all to herself.

Her lessons have not started yet and she had been doing nothing but hanging around in her room all day, unpacking her stuff.

" Hey, Kimmy!" a voice called out. Before Kimmy could turn around to see the person who had called her, she felt herself being knocked off her feet. She went tumbling over her bed along with her friend Kayla.

" You know, these childish antics of yours have to stop," Kimmy sighed, picking herself up and straightening her shirt.

" Aw, come on, you still seem so down. Cheer up. I thought coming here would change you already," Kayla pouted.

" Whatever. What's Scott doing?" Kimmy asked, changing the subject.

" You know him, he's studying. Day and night its him and his books. He should get a life, or a girl at least. When I'm done fixing you up in your new place here, I'll try to get him to hook up with a girl," Kayla said.

" Don't you have anything better to do, like studying?" Kimmy asked.

" Hell, no! Studying are for geeks."

" Then, why are you here for?"

" Dunno, have fun I guess. I better go back to check on Scott to make sure he eats something other than pieces of paper," Kayla said, jumping off Kimmy's bed and heading for the door. Kimmy winced slightly as the door slammed shut.

She looked out of her dorm window, staring emptily into the night. There was a calm, cool breeze that was blowing from the north. It was one of a few good things about staying on an island. It was a full moon tonight, its beams shining down brightly on the dark night surroundings.

She heard some faint sounds beneath her. Looking below, she spotted a couple under a tree, kissing each other passionately. She stared at them avidly, watching in fascination as they kissed in the dark. She turned around and went inside when she started to see the guy taking off the girl's shirt.

_It not comfortable to watch the midnight sky with someone making out beneath you…_

She switched off her lights and went to bed. She did not bother to wash herself or get into a clean set of clothes. All she wanted to do now was sleep. The transaction was over. She left her hometown and now she was in an island in the middle of nowhere. As she felt drowsiness overtake her senses, her mind suddenly focused on the young man she sat with in the aeroplane earlier.

---

" Don't you people have anything organic in here?" Phoenix complained.

He opened the fridge in Dr. Pickton's room. It was jam packed with cans of food, pies covered in aluminium foil and bottles of drinks. Phoenix shook his head is disappointment. He had nothing against processed foods, but he preferred to eat something fresh, not after being processed by a machine.

" Sorry," Iris apologised. " Here, what juice do you want?"

" Never mind, I'd rather drink plain water," Phoenix said, helping himself to a glass. Iris shrugged and took for herself a can of coke.

" My father said you were a former mercenary working for Umbrella. Is that true?" Iris asked. Phoenix gave a curt nod.

" Why did you leave?"

" Because I had no reason to stay," Phoenix replied.

" You aren't very talkative, are you?" Iris joked.

" It kept me alive for 24 years, and I don't see any reason to change," Phoenix replied, walking out of the kitchen. Phoenix walked towards his makeshift bedroom, the living room's sofa, and took out a small metallic box.

Opening it, he took out the gleaming Desert Eagle and checked it. It was brand new, light glittering of its polished surface. The grip felt perfect in his hand. Phoenix felt slightly ashamed as he started to caress the gun. The Desert Eagle was one of the guns he did not have in his collection, and in all places he had to get one here.

" Why is there a need for weapons?" Iris asked, frowning at the gun.

" Your father wouldn't give me this if he thought otherwise," Phoenix replied. He drew out another metallic case. He drew out a magazine, loaded with .50 AE rounds, and slotted it into the gun. It felt slightly heavier than he thought it would be, but it was not something he could not handle.

As Phoenix continued to examine his weapon, the phone rang. Iris went over to the phone and answered it.

" Hello?"

" Hey, Iris. Ashton here."

Iris remembered who he was. He was one of the researchers in the research centre. Tall and gangly, he was usually stuck in the lab, poking and probing plants for reasons only God knows why.

" What is it?"

" Um, just needed to inform you that we believe that there might be a leak of one of the chemical tanks in the underground storage room. A lot of people are sneezing and coughing all of a sudden, so measures have been taken to solve the matter. Management says that you better stick in your room until we give the all clear signal. Don't worry, it be over in a couple of hours…" And the line went dead.

" What was that all about?" Phoenix asked.

" Some chemical leak. Nothing to be bothered about," Iris assured him.

" Did this happen before?"

" No, why?"

" Just curious…" Phoenix mused, fiddling with his gun. He noticed that Iris was staring at him rather intensely.

" What? Don't you have anything better to do than look at me?" Phoenix ask.

" Why did you agree on helping us?" Iris asked.

" Why do you want to know?"

" Answer this question and I won't bother you further," Iris promised.

Phoenix sighed. Iris was getting on his nerves slightly. He contemplated for a while. Was it even worth telling?

After a while, he asked " Your mother's maiden name is Corrine, am I correct?"

Iris's eyes suddenly bulge wide open at those words. She struggled to reply but all she was able to was stammer incomprehensible words. Phoenix gave a shrug and continued " I'll take that as a yes. You are a Siamese twin, aren't you?"

Iris could only stare blankly at Phoenix, words lost in her throat. " Wait, you can't be serious…"

Phoenix drew out a picture from his pocket and handed it to Iris. Iris took it gingerly and looked at it. She was not sure what to say. All she saw was a picture of her standing at a beach, except she did not recall owning any sunglasses.

" I married your twin sister," Phoenix answered.

Iris looked up at him and said " I thought she passed away…"

" Well, that was what you all thought. After the surgery to separate both of you, her vitals started dropping and you all gave her up for dead. Fortunately, doctors were able to resuscitate her later, but they couldn't contact your family," Phoenix said.

Iris continued to stare at him as he continued " She was later placed in an orphanage after they were unable to trace her back to you. She studied in school, did well, and later worked as a lecturer Harvard. She passed away recently in a car accident."

Tears started to well-up in her eyes. Phoenix kept his gun, allowing her to digest all the information that she had just received. As he shoved the case of his gun under the sofa, she started to say " So, the reason you are here is…"

" I don't need to explain further, do I? It's very obvious," Phoenix replied.

---

Specter Island jail was located in a rather empty area in Island 4. It was a small, rectangular building with only three floors, including the ground floor. There was a tall metallic fence, charged with electricity, surrounding the entire parameter of the jail, and another fence located on the outside to keep outsiders out from electrifying themselves.

Mercury sat in the middle of his cell, staring blankly at the wall. He was locked in a singular cell, guarded by three police personal outside. They paced the cell once in a while, having stopped sneering at Mercury after it seemed to have no effect trying to taunt him.

Spending time in prison was good in a way: It allowed him to slowly think of all the things he had done and accomplished in life, along with the unfinished business. Mercury could not find the time to ever stop his work and dwell on the past. Now, he was able to do so.

He heard an officer cough outside his cell. Turning his head, he saw two of them playing cards on the desk while the other was pacing the area. Mercury turned away as one of them looked quizzically at him.

He wondered if his effort in bringing down Umbrella was of any use. He had wasted the last few years of his life trying to bring up enough evidence to go against them. There was a lot of advances in bio-weaponry, but Umbrella had taken a step too far, in his opinion. The tests they performed were beyond human thinking. He still remembered the nightmares he had when he first saw a hunter smash itself out of its cage in which it was held in, decapitating all the scientists inside.

He still could remember the event. The hunter smashed against the metal doors, hitting it wide open. Giving out a horrible guttural growl, he leaped forward, its sharp claws slicing off the head of a female scientist. Blood spurted out of her severed arteries, staining the ceiling in red as her head rolled to the side, her eyes and mouth open in utter horror.

The scientist scrambled for the exit, but it was a futile attempt. In order to avoid any contamination, rooms were fitted with electrical devices that will completely seal the room whenever one of their creatures break loose. There are only two ways to unlock the doors: to exterminate whatever that broke loose, or until the superiors override the security system.

The scientists ran to the door, banging their fist furiously on the glass door. Most of Umbrella's research facilities were fitted with the best equipment. The glass door would even withstand bullet shots.

Mercury watched from the other side with utter horror as the hunter continued its orgy of discriminate killing. It swung its claws madly about, tearing limbs apart and spilling the floor with bright crimson blood. The fortunate ones were killed swiftly with quick swipe to their head.

Security came in within seconds. Armed people entered the room after they had been given the green light to go in. They opened fire quickly, blowing the hunter away, its sinews bursting all over the place. The hunter was dead within a second. The problem was all the scientists were already dead.

Mercury did not know why, but he entered the gory room as the people started to clean up the mess. His experience with dead bodies allowed him not to reflexively gag at the sight and smell of all the bloodied corpses that lay before him. He took a good look at the creature created using Umbrella's technology. It was riddled with so many bullets it looked like a slab of meat that had gone through a blender.

Mercury had came a long way since the incident. He was rather frankly surprised that he could make it this far. Perhaps it will all end in a few days time. Mercury started to drift to sleep until he heard a sneeze.

Sneezing was nothing. Many people sneeze due to a lot of reasons, like allergy reactions and bacterial infections. But Mercury could feel his heart drop. The officer had coughed a minute ago, and now he had emitted a sneeze. If it was followed by a headache…

" Man, I don't feel too well," an officer said, rubbing his temples.

" No surprise there. Why don't you lay off your wife once in a while?" the other suggested. The officer snarled at his partner as the third one laughed out loud.

Mercury stared at the man in horror, unable to believe his eyes. _The symptoms match perfectly! This place has been infected, of all places!_

_I'm trapped in a nightmare!_

_-_

A motorbike came roaring down the highway. The rider was dressed it black, similar to the colour of the bike. It suddenly slowed to a halt as it neared the jail. Switching off the engine, the rider got off and took off his helmet.

Dalton took out his binoculars and looked through it. It was fitted with night vision, so his vision was in an eerie green glow. The area was devoid of life, save for a cat that was wandering around the area.

Dalton pushed his bike to the side of the road and kept it hidden between large drain by the roadside. The side of the bike scratched against the gravel, leaving a long, ugly scar on the bike. He was not too bothered about it as the bike was not his.

He had a daring plan. He learned that the police will be transporting Mercury at one o'clock in the afternoon. He would ride his bike and follow him closely. When he found the opportunity, he would interfere with the convoy escorting Mercury to God knows where and get him out. Whatever the opportunity was, he was not sure.

He ran his hand over the sawed shotgun that he kept inside his jacket. He knew he would be needing this to create opportunities.

---

Prof. Mason sat alone in his study, reading several sheets of paper. He had the radio on, with on of Beethoven's symphonies being played.

He slowly got up and went towards a shelf. It was lined with books of all sorts, from English literature to comic books Rick had brought for him during his birthday. However, he was not here to take a book.

He reached up and extracted a small, wooden brown box from the top shelf. Slowly, he brought it to his desk and opened it. In it contained several pieces of white paper, lined up neatly along a small bottle of bluish looking liquid.

Taking a small penknife in his drawer, he cut his index finger. He placed a small drop of his blood and dripped it on one of the pieces of paper. He waited until the blood was soaked up completely by the paper before dropping a drop of the blue liquid on the spot of blood.

It turned green.

Prof. Mason suspected as much. He realized that the existence of the island will come to an end. He had received information about the mercenary Jason Lands. He had hoped that he would not go so far. Unfortunately, Umbrella was wrong, and now Specter Island would be eradicated, just like Raccoon city.

He found the fact ironic. Rick and Vanessa's parents were researchers in the Spencer estate. A contamination broke out and everyone was lost inside. They were greatly involved in the research for the T virus, one that would change the foundations of the world. They lost their lives for it, and they made Rick and Vanessa orphans. He stared at the piece of paper that was stained green.

_They are going to be orphans again._

He knew he could leave the island, but he had too much at risk here to leave so soon. He did not expect Jason to act so rashly in such a manner. He suddenly realized he had brought upon them an unimaginable danger. He could now only rely on Max for help.

He sat down on his chair and picked up the paper he had been reading the whole day. We started to wonder if it would be of any use later on. He shook his head, arguing that he should not see it that way.

He was reading his will.

---

Rick covered the blanket over his Vanessa. She had a habit of kicking off her blanket in the middle of the night. Rick would patiently place it back on her, if he was still awake at that time.

He was not able to sleep as his mind was filled with too many thoughts. He knew his grandpa was planning something, something that involved a former mercenary, Max.

He felt his grandpa change all of a sudden a few weeks ago. He had ran up to him and screamed to welcome his beloved family member back home. His grandpa returned the usual greeting: he would lift him up, swing him around in a spin and say how much he had missed his grandkids.

Only, when he said it a few weeks ago, there was sadness in his eyes.

Rick then started to notice that his grandpa did unusual things. He locked himself in the study room for hours. He would sometimes only come home late at night, which was very unusual. He seemed to age ten years within a week. Grandpa was planning something, but he was not telling.

Rick wondered where Max fit in. Rick stole into his grandpa's study room once, a forbidden area for him. He had sternly warned Rick never to enter the study room, and five days ago, Rick found out why.

He had never heard of Umbrella, or that a city called Raccoon city even existed. He stared in horror as he read all the reports that were locked inside his grandpa's study room, all the details about a biological weapon, business dealings and people. There was so much information stored in it. He had heard the news about something like this, but he never realized how what an immense collection of data his grandpa had.

It was also there that he learned of his parent's deaths.

Max was unaware of what grandpa was planning, this Rick was sure. Rick liked Max a lot. He seemed understanding and caring enough. He somehow felt guilty that his grandpa was using him in some way.

Rick heard Vanessa give a sigh. He gave a sigh too, unsure of the things to come.

_Writer's note: I think I'm making Phoenix's reason for coming here sounding very corny...or maybe it is just me. Yeap, problems are going to crop up later. _

_Got too much free time, so hence posting two chapters at once. Yay!_


	10. Interlude 1: Meeting in the White House

**First Interlude: Meeting in the White House**

A lone man sat in the Oval Office, going through a whole file of papers taken from his drawer. It was late at night in Washington D.C. The streets were unusually quiet. The place was unsettlingly serene, a rather unusual atmosphere that one can rarely get in the capital city.

His coat was laid on a chair nearby. The White House was quiet. Everyone people had left, save a few who remain to maintain the place. He gave a loud yawn and looked at his watch. It was seven minutes past midnight.

The man looked up immediately as he heard the sound of a knock on his door. It opened and a face peered in.

" Mr. President, you told me to inform you when the person was arriving," the face said.

" Yes, Graham, is he here?" the President asked, standing up and straightening his shirt.

" He's waiting outside…"

" Bring him in, Graham," the President said.

The man nodded and left. The President walked over a chair and picked up his blue coat and put it on. He continued to pour himself a cup of coffee when there was a second knock on the door and someone entered.

The President turned to look at who had come in. A tall, regal looking man with short cropped hair entered. He was carrying a black suitcase in his hands. The visitor was imposing, his shoulders broad and there was this arrogant air that surrounded him, arrogant enough to allow the most powerful man in America to wait for two hours in the Oval Office and not be sorry about it.

" About time. I received your call. What is it about this time?" The President asked, taking a cup of coffee. He did not bother to ask the man to take a seat. Their meetings never took long and the man never bothered.

Setting his suitcase down on the table in the middle of the room, he opened the locks and of the case and drew out a piece of paper. The President sighed, taking the paper.

He read the first few lines, then frowned. He looked back at his visitor to make sure this was not some kind of farce. His stern face showed there it was not. The President reread the piece of paper again. He felt his stomach drop as he finally understood the meaning of the parchment.

" What is the meaning of this?" The President demanded.

" I'm sure you understand plain English," the visitor replied, closing his bag.

" But…this is another one! Can't you keep your bloody viruses in a safe place without spilling them all over the place?" The President practically yelled.

" Please, are you questioning our methods?" the visitor asked with deadly calm. The President held his peace.

" We sincerely hope you can comply with our wishes. We will need whatever that is stated," the visitor said, taking his leave.

" You already have been asking too much since the Raccoon city incident," The President retorted.

" Have we? Have a nice night," the visitor said, leaving the room.

---

The visitor walked briskly towards his car parked outside the White House's compound..

" Thank you for your time, Vice President," the visitor said as his driver opened the passenger's compartment. Graham merely grunted. The two secret service agents, who had escorted the visitor to his car, merely glanced at Vice President Graham as he openly showed his displeasure.

The visitor entered the car and the driver immediately drove off. Graham watched as the car drove away into the darkness. After the car was gone from his sight, he signalled to one of his agents.

" Tail that car. I want to know where it is going," he said, sternly. The agent nodded and left.

_Writer's note: A very short chapter. I'm keeping something fishy going on in the White House. I'm thinking that in the game, Umbrella might be having a hand in politics, especially the U.S. Government, which explains their grasp over a lot of things and why they can stay in 'business' for so long. I know this is just a theory, but I like to think that powerful people are inolved in such matters._


	11. Chapter 9: The Outbreak

**Chapter 9: The Outbreak**

Max yawned and stretched himself on the seat of the guard house as the first rays of light pierced his eyes. It irritated his eyes, but it felt weirdly pleasing. His shift was almost done and he could not wait to get replaced.

" Hey, tired already?" Julie asked, walking up to him from the mansion.

" Nah, I was just getting up," Max replied.

" Whatever, joker. Why don't you get in? The kids are preparing breakfast," Julie said, thumbing the mansion.

---

Max looked apprehensively at his plate on what was supposed to be his breakfast. There were several globs of yellowish, gooey pieces that seemed to be coated in what looked like half-boiled eggs. Stripes of bacon were fired beyond recognition and there was a half-stick of a carrot that lay on his plate. The only thing that seemed edible was his orange juice that thankfully came from a carton box.

" Hey, may I know what the heck I am having here?" Max asked loudly.

Rick skidded out of the kitchen, dressed in an apron with words that read: " Chef". He was in a mess, with pieces of eggshells pasted all over him by some kind of a sticky sauce. He was holding a frying pan in his hand that contained a very ugly looking material that was probably not even worthy of fertilizer.

" Haven't you eaten French toast before?" Rick demanded, putting his free hand on his hip.

" You call this French toast?" Max asked, rather appalled.

" Yeah, if not what then?" Rick asked. His sister, Vanessa poked out her head behind the kitchen wall to look at the talk between them.

" I've seen better French toasts than this, and they were made by people who can't even cook, namely me," Max retorted, poking the squishy looking 'toast'.

" Look, I know it looks like crap, but trust me, it tastes pretty good," Rick replied, walking back to the kitchen to continue his cooking. Max wondered why his grandfather allowed him to take over the reins in the kitchen.

Max picked up a slimy piece and took a tentative bite. He hated to admit it, but Rick's French toast actually tasted pretty good, although the taste was nowhere near being a French toast. He tasted a lot of seasoning in the toast, especially pepper. He dropped the piece as he later realized that his hand was now covered in sticky goo that looked like egg white.

" Oh, hey, you free at 12?" Rick asked, popping back up.

" I've got to start my duty by then," Max replied, looking around for a serviette.

" Great, you can then drop us by the cinema!" he cried.

" What for?"

" Duh? We are going to watch a movie, obviously," Rick said, making a face.

" Hey, I'm a security guard, not your driver," Max replied.

" And I'm your boss, and the other bigger boss asked you to anyway, so you can't complain," Rick said, folding his arms. He then sniffed the air, then cried " Oh, shit, my breakfast is burning!" and ran back into the kitchen. Max could smell the smell of burnt meat coming from the direction of the kitchen.

---

Mercury felt himself being lifted of his seat in the cell in which he spent the night in. Two burly looking policemen were escorting him somewhere to be transported to an unknown destination.

Mercury felt like he was trapped in a nightmare. He had spent the entire night observing the policemen that were guarding his cell. They had showed symptoms of infection, infection of the newer prototype virus that had been created in the labs of Umbrella.

Umbrella had been in the business of experimenting with biological weapons for a long time, especially using viruses to turn human and other beings alike into the walking dead. Aggravatingly, since the U.S. government had not stopped them from fully dissolving, they had made a groundbreaking new improvement in the original T virus they used.

They made the new virus airborne.

The older viruses could only spread mainly through water or from direct contamination from a host that was already infected. The new virus, named the TS virus, could spread through air, creating a whole newer game in biological warfare.

The original T virus was inserted with samples of human DNA from an unknown source. This somehow allowed the virus mutate and being able to spread through air.

However, the virus had a flaw: the virus self-destructs after it infects its host. Since the human DNA has made it volatile and virulent, the virus quickly infects the host and mutates rapidly, in after which, it destroys itself, leaving the remnants of the old T virus inside to do the work, leaving the host's body in a wreck. Thus, the only way to reproduce extra samples of the virus was to regenerate it using the original sample. To Mercury's knowledge, there was only one sample under Umbrella's care.

It did not make sense to him. Umbrella would not waste their only precious sample and spread it in a place like this. Wasting their sample here means an outbreak of the virus was imminent, but to Umbrella, it means that they have lost a potential goldmine.

Chris would not have let the virus loose here. He had contacted Chris to ask his help in retrieving the virus from Umbrella. If he did get hold of it, the last thing he would do would be to let it loose.

So, it left Mercury with only one conclusion: Someone else other than Umbrella or Chris had set the virus loose here. Mercury could not speculate who it was.

He was brought to the jail's car park. Inside, a large armoured truck was waiting to transport him to an unknown destination. Several police cars were also geared up to escort the armoured truck. Several police personal were donning armoured jackets and loading their weapons as they got into their vehicles.

Mercury looked around as he was unceremoniously pushed inside the armoured truck. _This sucks, most of them have already been infected!_

_-_

Dalton shook of his stupor as he saw a number of vehicles drove out of the jail. An armoured truck was being escorted by four police cars. All the vehicles headed south.

Dalton kicked the starter to his bike. The vehicle roared to life as the engine revved up loudly. Seating himself properly, he rode off, following the armoured truck closely.

---

Iris chewed on her toast quietly as Phoenix packed their stuff into small bags. He wore a brown leather jacket to keep his weapon hidden within him. He loaded all his ammo clips into his jacket and slung a bag over his shoulders.

" When you are done, take that bag and head to the door. We'll be leaving soon," Phoenix said.

" Hey…" Iris started. Phoenix stopped walking and looked at her.

" Sorry about what happened to your wife," Iris said timidly.

Phoenix gazed at her for a while, then replied " Thank you."

" What was she like?" Iris asked, venturing deeper.

" Why are we going into this?" Phoenix asked.

" I just want to know," Iris replied.

" She is just very much like you in everyway, the way you talk, the way you act and the way you behave, except that you don't wear sunglasses like her," Phoenix replied. Iris started giggling, but stopped when Phoenix gave her a look that said that he was not joking.

Phoenix picked up a phone and dialled a number Dr. Pickton had given him. Iris went back to her toast, before asking " What else…?"

Phoenix raised his finger at her, signalling that he wanted to end the conversation. Dejected, Iris went back to her breakfast as Phoenix waited for the receiver to pick up the phone.

" Hey!" the receiver said.

" This is Phoenix…"

" Wait a sec!" the female on the opposite end replied, cutting Phoenix off abruptly before he could finish his sentence. " There is a problem, major one!"

" What is it?" Phoenix asked, not liking the sound of it.

" I can't land at the specified helipad. The U.S. Internal Security has ordered a lockdown on all aerial vehicles on Specter Island and they have forbidden any other vehicles to enter. I can't get in Specter Island without getting shot at for boarding a helicopter!" The female frantically replied.

" What do you mean by that?" Phoenix demanded. Iris looked up from her plate, sensing something amiss.

" I mean what I said. You can't even board a plane in or out of Specter Island right now. They claim that they were putting up security just for the meantime and it will be over soon, but it's a load of bullshit. I think something wrong is going on there. I just don't know what. I'll return a call if I can do anything about it. Other than that, you'll need to do something else about it," the caller answered, hanging up.

Phoenix stared at the phone in disbelief. _Is this even happening?_

" Eat that. We are leaving now. Something wrong is going on here!" Phoenix said, jumping up.

---

" Yay!" Rick exclaimed as he skipped around the cinema's entrance. The afternoon sun was now bearing down on Max and he was starting to sweat. Not wanting to loose Rick and Vanessa in the crowd of people at the cinema, he ran up to the entrance, nearly missing a speeding car.

" Hey, can't you stay close for a while?" Max scolded.

" Ah, what's wrong? Can I go buy my tickets now?" Rick asked, practically bouncing.

" Yes, yes, go ahead," Max sighed. Rick skipped off towards the ticket counter to buy tickets for his movie.

Max sighed. He felt reluctant to act as a driver and babysitter. Certainly, it was much more interesting to watch Rick's antics, but this was not written in the job description.

" You seem bored already after one day," a voice called out to him.

Max spun around and exclaimed loudly " Kimmy!"

" Hey, pipe it down a little. You sound like some kid who never got a birthday present or something," Kimmy scoffed.

" Yeah, never had many. What brings you here?" Max asked.

" Catching a movie. And what brings you here?" Kimmy asked back.

It was at this precise moment that Rick came running up to him, waving a couple of tickets in his hands while his sister followed behind with a cup of popcorn and cried " Yay, got tickets! Hey, is she your girlfriend?"

" Babysitting kids? I thought you were a security guard," Kimmy replied, arching her eyebrows.

" Yeah, one of the perks," Max sighed.

" Hey, Maxie, a lot of people here look sick," Rick retorted, pointing to the general vicinity. Max took a good look around. He could see a lot of people coughing and sneezing, as well as rubbing their heads. These people also had bloodshot eyes, though some were more visible than the others. It reminded Max that Prof. Mason was also coughing and sneezing quite a lot this morning.

" I wonder if there is an epidemic going on. A lot of people are getting sick all of a sudden," Kimmy said.

" Where? In your university?" Max asked.

" Yeah, my friends seem to have caught it too," Kimmy said.

" Oh, crap, we can't talk here! I'm late for work. Julie will pick you up later, kid!" Max said, jogging off.

" Hey, you haven't answered my question! Are you his girlfriend?" Rick asked, turning to Kimmy now that Max was gone.

---

Max drove the car into the garage of the mansion and switched off the engine. He practically jumped out of the car, looking frantically at his watch. As expected, Julie was already not at the guard station. He ran towards the mansion and entered, ready to get into his uniform and go to work. As soon as he opened the door, he stopped in his tracks.

The mansion's butler lay dead on the floor.

Max did not know the man well, except that he was the one in charge of maintaining the house. He had only seen him once yesterday when he entered Max's room to check if everything was alright. Now, he lay flat on the floor, his mouth wide open and his eyes rolled to his head.

" What the hell?" Max cried. " Prof. Mason!"

" He's also dead," Julie's voice floated from what looked like Prof. Mason's study room.

Max ran towards the study room. As he burst into the room, he saw Julie standing by Prof. Mason. He was propped on his chair, his mouth agape and his eyes rolled up, just like his butler. Max did not need to check that he was dead.

" What…what happened here?" Max asked, still reeling from what had happened.

" I don't know, Max. When my time was up, I came in. I found them just like they way they were…" Julie stammered.

Taking a deep breath, Max took a bold step in. The study was relatively untouched. Books and boxes were piled nicely by the mahogany shelves. There were several ivory boxes that lay by his side. Cabinets filled with unknown treasures from around the world were proudly exhibited only for him to see.

Max spotted a wooden box on the Professor's table. There were several pieces of papers inside, along with a bottle of bluish liquid. One piece was stained green.

" You think he poisoned himself?" Julie suggested, feeling scared.

" I don't think so…" Max replied. He noted a cut on the Professor's fingers. Feeling bold, he took a piece of paper and dripped some of the bluish liquid on a piece of paper. He then gingerly took the Professor's stiff fingers and squeezed out a little blood. As soon as the blood touched the paper, it turned green.

" I think this was for testing his blood for something. Don't ask me for what," Max said, stepping back to look at the Professor.

" I think this looks like his will or something…" Julie said, spotting a piece of document on the dead man's desk. She went closer to get a look at it.

Max stared at the Prof. for a while. It did not make any sense on how the Professor could suddenly die like this. They way he was placed, it looked like he had the life sucked right out of him. Max suddenly felt that the dead body's position and features were somewhat familiar to him.

" My God, it is his will, but I don't get this. He…he seems to have left…"

Max did not hear what the heck the Professor had left. He suddenly felt the life being sucked out of him as he spotted the Professor's dead fingers twitch. He thought he had imagined it, but it twitched for the second time.

_Now wonder this looks familiar!_

" Julie, get away from him, now!" Max roared.

His warning came a little too late. His eyes widened in horror as the dead man rose from his seat and lunged towards Julie. She did not realize what had happened until she felt a powerful set of jaws clamped down hard on her neck. Max's mouth fell open as he saw the dead man's teeth puncture an artery in Julie's neck, spraying blood all over the desk.

" …Max…" she gargled as blood started spilling into her mouth. The dead man rose and pushed her back, as it continued to bite at her neck savagely, spurting blood all over the place. She collapsed down on a shelf as the dead man continued to feast on her.

_Prof. Mason has turned into a zombie!_

The zombie stopped and rose to its feet, turning its attention now to Max. Max yelled in horror, turning around and making a lunge towards the door as the zombie hobbled after him.

_This can't be happening!_

Unfortunately, it was.

Max was not sure, but the zombie seemed to be running pretty quickly. " Damn pieces of shit, you didn't used to run that fast!" Max yelled.

He heard another moan, and he skidded to a halt just in time. The butler had now arisen from the dead and was now hobbling towards Max. He made a sharp twist to the right, the zombie's fingers missing him by a fraction as he dashed towards the staircase.

Survival instinct overtook his sense of fear. He needed a weapon, and fast. He knew he kept his S&W .357 Magnum revolver in his room. Tearing up the stairs, he made his way to his room.

At once, he regretted for never picking the initiative to clean his room. His room was in a mess, and the gun was nowhere to be seen. He instantly dived into the mess and felt around for his gun, throwing pieces of paper away. All the while, he could hear the footsteps of something coming close to him.

His hand gripped on something metallic. He felt jubilated as he drew out his revolver from a bunch of clothing. Cocking it, he turned around and raised it up as the butler entered his room. Taking aim at its head, he pulled the trigger a little harder than he needed. He heard a faint click as the trigger hit the empty barrel.

He could have sworn the zombie smiled.

He leaped aside as the zombie lunged at him, cursing the fact that he emptied his gun last night. He tripped on a piece of cloth, sending him crashing on the floor. As he tried to recover from the blow, he spotted a bullet underneath his bed.

He frantically crawled towards the bullet as the zombie came upon him. Grabbing the bullet, he frantically tried to stuff it inside the cartridge. The zombie dropped on him, its mouth wide open, ready to take a bite. The bullet slid into the chamber, and Max pointed it at the first opening he saw.

The blast was deafening, maybe due to the close quarters or due to the fact he had not used a gun in a long time. He winced as bright red blood came splattering all over him as he blew the zombies brains to bits, blowing a large gaping hole in its head. The zombie shifted slightly, then dropped down on Max, really dead this time.

" Move over!" he grimaced, pushing the body over. He went over to a drawer and opened it. He took out all the spare ammunition he had for the gun, which consisted of only a dozen shots. Loading his revolver, he took a peek at the streets below.

He could not believe his eyes. People were frantically running around as dozens of zombies walked all over the place, each vying for a bite of warm human flesh. Max had to tell himself this was another outbreak, just like the one that happened in Raccoon city. He felt he was trapped in a never-ending nightmare.

He stormed down the stairs, spotting the zombie that was formerly Prof. Mason looking up at him suddenly. He discharged a bullet at its face, blowing it to kingdom come. He walked in the study room, which was bloodied all over.

Julie lay slumped on a shelf, her eyes half open and her mouth seeping out blood. She was drenched in her blood, making her looked like a very horrible, mangled corpse. Max hated doing it, but he started searching through her pockets. He drew out the revolver she had and spare bullets, knowing he would need it more than she did.

As he kept the newfound ammo, he suddenly realized that she was still alive, but barely. She was breathing faintly, but she was not responding.

Max was not sure how long she would last, but he did not like the idea of her lasting like this any longer. It might have been from training as a mercenary, but Max thought it was just the logical thing to do. Besides, it would just lessen the zombie count.

He picked up a letter opener by the desk. Bracing himself, he rammed it deep into her throat. She gargled for a bit, and then she stopped breathing. He checked her pulse just to make sure. He was trained to relieve his team members when he was in Umbrella whenever they were beyond help. This was his first time though, and he strangely did not feel too bad about it.

Deciding not to dwell too much about it, he got up and ran out of the mansion, not too sure where he would be taking himself.

_Writer's note: The outbreak seems to be happening at a pretty fast rate, but I wanted the story to run quickly. _

_I was also told that I made the U.S. President sound like a British. Since I'm not American, I would like to apologise in advance if my characters suddenly don't sound like Americans._


	12. Chapter 10:The Spread of the Disease

**Chapter 10: The Spread of the Disease**

It happened all at once, just as he calculated that it would. Mercury braced himself as the armoured truck went hurtling to the side. The two police personal that were in the armoured truck with him suddenly started convulsing violently, both of them clawing at their body in an antagonizing way until they collapsed on the floor. At the same time, he felt the truck hit the curb of the highway, careening to the left.

The truck turned over and rolled a few times. Mercury felt himself being tossed around like a piece of clothing in a washing machine. He felt his body slam hard against the truck's metal walls, making his body go numb. The truck rolled over three times before coming to a halt.

The truck laid upside-down by the side of the highway. Most of the police cars had also careened to the side, crashing into one another. Mercury felt his head spinning as he tried to get his bearings.

-

Dalton skidded his motorbike to a halt as he stared at the unusual phenomenon. Almost at the same time, all the police vehicles lost control and started spinning in all directions, crashing into one another or careening off the highway. He watched in horror as the armoured truck carrying Mercury hit the side and rolled over three times before coming to a stop.

He jumped off his bike and ran to the nearest police car to see what had happened. Dalton was not sure whether he was seeing things right. In a police cruiser, two policemen lay as still as death, their bodies stuck in a rigid pose, their mouths open wide and their faces etched in agony.

_What the hell killed these people? And all at the same time!_

He spun around as he heard the sound of someone coughing. One officer was still alive. Dalton went up to the officer to take a look. She had a bad cut on her forehead with a lot of blood seeping from her wound. Her partner, in a rigid state and who was in front of the wheel, lay in a position that suggested that he was dead.

" Hey, lady, you alright?" Dalton called out.

" Yeah, I'm alive at least," she said, checking herself for any other wounds. She turned to Dalton and asked " And what are you doing here?"

" I was just riding by when I saw…" Dalton made a wave with his hand " …this happened. What happened?"

Before he could get his answer, the police officer's supposedly dead partner rose and gave a moan. Before any of them could react, the dead man reached over and bit his partner viciously over her neck. The officer screamed in pain and horror as her partner started feasting on her. Dalton took a step back in horror as blood started splattering out of the broken car door as the man ripped the officer's neck out.

" …Zombies…" Dalton gasped, understanding it now.

He spun around. The zombie officers started emerging from their patrol cars and lumbered towards Dalton. Dalton's first instinct was to run away as fast as his legs could carry him, but he remembered that he was here to rescue Mercury. So, he had to take another course of action.

He drew out his sawed-off shotgun and fired at the closest zombie.

-

Mercury groaned as he awoke from his stupor. The policemen had already started turning into zombies. This was probably the reason why the truck ran off the highway. He seemed to be alright, only with a slight bump to his head. However, he realized he was not out of trouble yet.

The other two policemen in the truck were now arising, having turned into mindless zombies. They raised their arms up and moved towards Mercury. He felt totally helpless. He was handcuffed and his legs were chained together. He could not even beat the zombie properly to save himself from this predicament.

He was about to give up on hope when he heard the sound of a shotgun being shot. It rang again and again, pausing after a while then another time. It probably meant that there was a survivor. However, it was followed by silence.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud shot just outside the truck. The truck's lock blew off its hinges, one of the metal pieces almost hitting Mercury on the head. Someone kicked the door open and blew the two zombies in the truck to kingdom come. Mercury winced slightly as the zombies' bodies blew open from the shot.

" Hey, glad to see you are okay," a person said, kneeling down next to Mercury.

Mercury found himself looking up at a ruffled looking teenager with a roguish grin plastered on his face. Dalton immediately pulled Mercury to his feet with his free hand.

" What the hell are you doing here?" Mercury asked, sounding more demanding than surprised. _So I did see him at the airport!_

" You don't sound happy that I'm come here to save your ass," Dalton replied, sounding dejected.

" Hell, this island is turning into a hellhole! Some bastard has just spread the TS virus on this island and now it is turning into a nightmare! I'd rather if you stayed off it!" Mercury cried.

" So much for a rescue…" Dalton sighed.

The other police officers had came up to the truck. Dalton stepped forwards towards them, blowing the head of the closest zombie to fragments. Mercury started searching through the holsters of the other two zombies in the truck's compartment and relieved them of their handguns. Both Mercury and Dalton fired at the zombies walking towards them.

" Shit, I'm out!" Dalton cursed as he checked his barrel after they had killed the last zombie. They lay on the grassy floor, bleeding profoundly from their grievous ballistic wounds. Some of them were still twitching, but they were of no harm now.

" Where the hell did you get that gun?" Mercury demanded.

" Oh, this.. I…"

" Oh, boy…" Mercury sighed, slapping his forehead.

Mercury started retrieving all the weapons and ammo from the dead police officers. Dalton watched as Mercury got his entire attire in a bloody mess as he slowly dug through the corpses for ammunition.

" Who the hell did this?" Dalton asked, feeling sickened by the sight of the mangled, headless corpses. It did not seem daunting at first that he had to shoot them, but now, especially with the smell in the air, he felt quite sick after realizing what he had done.

" Dunno," came Mercury's blunt reply.

" Dunno? Looks like Umbrella's work again," Dalton moaned.

" The virus being created by Umbrella, yes, but being put here, no. Someone else place the virus for it to spread on this island, not Umbrella. But that doesn't matter now. What is more important is that we need to get off this island immediately!" Mercury said, loading a Berretta pistol with a full magazine.

" Why did you come here anyway?" Mercury demanded.

Dalton suddenly felt furious. " Isn't it obvious? I came here to rescue you! What the heck are you talking about?" he yelled.

" You shouldn't have come," Mercury retorted. Dalton did not understand him.

" Why not? Are you still worrying about me? If so, don't. I came here on my own accord, and I came here for a reason, and that was to save you. Whatever happened now was probably a bad timing, but big deal. I owe you too much, damn it, and I'm here to repay it," Dalton replied firmly.

" You are not an adult," Mercury replied.

" And you ain't my father. If you insist, you can berate me after we get the hell out of here. So, let's get out of her before we become zombie chow," Dalton suggested, heading to the nearest police car.

" Hey, would you mind getting these cuffs off me first?" Mercury yelled.

---

Phoenix gave a swift kick towards the zombies face. It staggered backwards at the impact, knocking a few of the other zombies behind it as well. Taking this opportunity, Phoenix grabbed Iris's hand and led her along the corridor.

Zombies were emerging from the rooms and corridors. The place was crawling with them. There were screams and cries of agony and pain as the zombies started hunting the unarmed scientists, those who were not infected, and started to bite on them. The scientists were helpless, unarmed and inexperienced in fighting, they become hapless victims as pairs of jaws clamped down on their throats, devouring the life out of them.

Phoenix leaped over a scientist who had fell victim to a zombie as the undead creature was chewing furiously on his neck. Several zombies turned after them, but Phoenix and Iris were running too fast to be caught by their speed.

Phoenix halted as another group of zombies blocked their way down ahead. Seeing their escape route cut off, he veered to the left. Swiping Iris's ID card on the scanner, both of them entered the room and locked the doors behind them.

" What the hell is happening?" Iris cried, gasping painfully for breath.

Phoenix knew it all to well. This was another outbreak just like the one that had occurred at Raccoon city 3 years ago. He was not sure how the virus had spread, but it was the least of his worries.

The place was swarming with zombies. Within a few minutes, the remaining surviving people in the building would be wiped out. Phoenix had tried to contact their transport, but the reply was negative. The helicopter which was supposedly suppose to pick them up was unable to come due to interference by the U.S. Army. They were suppose to now find a way off by themselves.

Phoenix felt suspicious of the army. They had reacted pretty quickly to the outbreak, taking steps even before the people started to change into zombies. And, they were doing the unthinkable. They were preventing people from coming in to rescue them and from going out to escape.

_Does this mean they are condemning us to die here?_

" What do we do now, Phoenix?" Iris asked.

" We'll need to get off this island by ourselves. We've got no choice in the matter," Phoenix replied, looking around. They were stuck in some sort of store room where the janitor keeps his mops and brooms. There was no exit from the room, except from the door in which they just entered.

" How?" she asked.

" We head to the first island," Phoenix said, firmly while looking around for anything useful in the storeroom, although he doubted the janitor would keep a store of bullets just in case the scientists started turning into flesh eating zombies.

" Why?"

" That's the place where they store most of the aircraft and boats. Plus, most of the landing pads and hangars are there, and it is mostly uninhabited. If we are to get of this island, it will be from that point," Phoenix said.

He eyed a couple of sickles that lay by the corner of the room. They were newly used as Phoenix could see fresh pieces of grass still stuck to the blade. Picking them up, he twirled them around in the air, testing their weight in his hands.

" What's that for?" Iris asked.

" Supplementary weapons. We can't survive with my Desert Eagle only," Phoenix said.

There was a faint beep and the door of the storeroom opened. In came a flood of zombies, all of them moaning loudly, in need of fresh blood. Iris screamed at the sight of them and cowered herself on the floor as one of the zombies went towards her. Without missing a beat, Phoenix took one big leap towards her and with a powerful swing of the sickle, lobbed the zombies head clean off its hinges.

Kicking the decapitated zombie backwards, Phoenix progressively sliced off another's head cleanly. Doing this act was almost impossible under normal circumstances, but the zombies' reactions were slow enough for Phoenix to execute it. Iris opened her eyes slightly as Phoenix lobbed the last zombie's head off.

" Get up! Let's go!" Phoenix yelled, forcing Iris to her feet. As they tore out of the room, he spotted an ID card lying right underneath the scanner to the room.

_These bastards are smart enough to use an ID card! I thought they were just mindless beings!_

Phoenix spotted a scientists falling down on his right. His cries for help were muffled as a number of zombies poured all over him, his flailing arm waving madly for help. Phoenix pushed most of the zombies aside, deciding it was better to conserve his energy for later.

They made it to the lift. Iris swiped her card again over the scanner to activate the lift. Phoenix watched as the lift took what looked like an eternity to reach their level. The zombies were massing in on them. If the lift did not arrive soon, it would be over for them.

There was a resounding ring and the doors of the lift opened. A zombie came out, grabbing Phoenix on his back. He twisted his body around and planted a kick squarely in the zombies chest, forcing it to stagger backwards into the lift. Walking inside, he swung the sickle against its head and yelled at Iris to get her inside.

As the lift's doors were closing, a hand squeezed through the doors and grabbed Iris by her hair.

---

It was reigning pandemonium at the cinema.

People were scrambling out of the cinema, trampling over one another in an attempt to escape the horror that was prevailing over the place. A police officer who was at the scene had his gun ready, trying to calm the on-going rush of people. He was knocked down by someone and before he knew it, a zombie had pounced on him, chewing against his flesh.

Kimmy slammed her foot hard against the zombies skull. She was not too sure of the effect it would cause, but it surprised her that the zombie's head cracked opened like an eggshell, oozing the blood all over her sneakers. Shaking it off, she bent down to retrieve the gun the policeman was holding.

Kimmy used to have training in firearms from her brother, even though it was illegal. She aimed and fired once, the bullet perfectly lodging itself in the zombies head. It reeled backwards slightly, before dropping down on the floor.

The people were clearing out of the cinema. She tried to shove her way through, but to no avail. Several people were not aware of where the exits were, running blindly into each other. As she tried to get her bearings, she felt someone grab her arm.

" Holy shit, don't shoot me!" Max cried, raising his arms to cover his face as Kimmy spun on him.

" Max, what are you doing here?" Kimmy exclaimed.

" Well, couldn't leave you guys here all alone," he said, running off into the cinema.

" Leave us?" Kimmy asked, before realizing that he must have meant the two kids he had brought here. She was rather touched that Max made up his mind to come back for two kids he had no relations with.

" Fuck! Which cinema did they go into?" Max spat, looking frantically around.

" Cinema 3, I think," Kimmy ventured.

It was worth a shot for Max. He tore down the corridor pointing towards cinema 3 with Kimmy close behind. He drew out a stainless steel revolver as he barged through the cinema doors.

" Max!" came a loud cry from within. Max instantly spotted Rick standing over Vanessa as they were surrounded by zombies at the far end of the cinema.

" Get down!" Max ordered. Rick complied at once as Max fired over and over again at the zombies. Vanessa started crying as bits and pieces of blood and gore splattered all over her. Max gave a swift side kick towards the two remaining zombies, knocking them aside.

" You guys alright?" Max asked, kneeling down next to them. He was not sure what compelled him to come here to rescue to small kids when he would be better off rescueing himself. He argued that his morals were against it.

" You came!" Rick yelled excitedly, giving Max a hug.

" Damn, get off me! We don't have time for this! Come on, let's go!" he said, getting up. Rick suddenly gave a scream and Max suddenly felt something grab his back. He could feel the hot, putrid breath of a zombie right behind him, just before a pistol went off and the zombie jerk to the right and fell down.

Kimmy had her pistol raised towards Max. She went up to him to check if he was alright.

" Cool, a brilliant headshot," Rick exclaimed, rather amused. " You've got one dangerous chick there, Maxie!"

" Hell, yeah, you could have hit my head!" Max exclaimed, touching the back of his head to make sure he was alright.

" Is this what I get for saving you?" Kimmy scowled.

" Look, we can talk later. Let's get to somewhere safe first," Max replied, leading the way out. The cinema was empty, save for a few zombies who were too busy feasting on corpses of people to give them any attention. Max reloaded his revolver, wondering how he would survive such a place with limited ammunition.

All of them tore out of the cinema, with Max leading the way to an alleyway where a car was parked. Max quickly asked them to get into. Rick and Vanessa obeyed without a further word.

Max jumped in the driver's seat and gunned the engine, which roared to life. Shifting gear and pressing the accelerator, the car lurched forward, speeding down the road. Most people, in the midst off terror, decided that running on foot was the best way to escape, thus the roads were pretty empty of cars when they drove on it.

" Hey, what about Grandpa? Aren't we gonna pick him up?" Rick asked.

" Um, don't worry, he's safe. He'll…meet us after we get off this island," Max lied, rather pathetically. Rick shrugged and sat back in his seat. Max gave a furtive look towards Kimmy.

" So, what do we do now?" Kimmy asked.

" I don't know, but he'll I'm not staying here!" Max said. He sped the car down the road, amidst all the people running madly around.

_Writer's note: I'll be taking a 'very' long break due to my upcoming exams, so I won't be updating this story till about late November. Sorry for any inconvinience. Thanks._


	13. Chapter 11: The Survivors

**Chapter 11: The Survivors**

Rachael groaned as she heard her hand phone ring. The sound of the ring was irritating to her ears, moreover since it was the middle of the night. She silently cursed the ringer as she got out of bed to see who it was.

" Your boss or something?" someone asked next to her. Rachael turned to look at Jack Breton, her boyfriend, who had also woke up from all the commotion.

" My boss doesn't call me in using my cell phone. Must be my idiot brother," she groaned. Shaking off her sleepiness, she took up her hand phone and answered it.

" Max, damn it, what now?" she groaned, holding her head.

" Rachael, we are in trouble! I need your help now!" he yelled loudly.

" Max, I'm not in the mood for jokes. This is twice you have woken me in the middle of the night in a week," Rachael replied, ready to put down the phone.

However, sleepy as she was, she could hear a lot of noise on the other side. There were wheels screeching and gunfire going of in the background. She heard a faint sound of an explosion at the background. However, the most perceptible sound was that there was a lot of screaming in the background.

" Max, what the heck is going on there?" Rachael asked, feeling a chill in her bones. Jack had sat up in bed, wondering what her brother had gotten her worried about.

" There is a big…shit, fuck off!" Max suddenly yelled. Rachael recoiled in shock as she heard a couple of loud gunshots echoing from the phone.

" Max, what is going on there?" Rachael demanded.

" You know what happened to Raccoon city right?" Max asked. Rachael did not need to be told. She knew it very well.

" Well, it's happening again, here at all places," Max replied. He sounded like he was driving a car while speaking to her.

" What do you want…"

" I need you to help me get off this island. Airplanes are not allowed to enter or leave now and there seems to be no boat off this bloody island, and they call this and island. So, I have two options: get someone to fly here and pick us up against government orders, or we swim off this island. My choice is obvious…Call me when you are ready, okay?" he said, cutting off the line.

---

Phoenix swung the sickle hard the zombie's hand. There was a sickening cracking sound of metal striking bone, breaking it from the joints. The hand came neatly off its joint, the arteries bursting with blood. Phoenix punched the zombie on the face, forcing it backwards as he closed the lifts doors.

Iris pulled the severed limb that was still grasping her hair and threw it aside. The fingers still twitched slightly, as if there was still life in it.

Phoenix pressed the button for the lower floor. After that, he collapsed on the floor to catch his breath. The day's events were fast unfolding and getting quickly out of hand. He wondered how long he could even last.

" Bad day, huh?" Iris said.

" You can say that again," Phoenix groaned.

He felt an item in his pocket vibrate. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved a hand phone that he had carried along with him. He recognized the number listed on the phone immediately.

" Phoenix," came the worried voice of Dr. Pickton.

" Speaking," Phoenix replied.

" I cannot say how glad I am to hear your voice. Is my daughter there?" he asked.

" Yes, she's fine," Phoenix replied.

" Phoenix, what is going on there?"

" What do you mean?"

" The U.S. government has barred anyone, or anything from entering or exiting the island. Something is definitely wrong there, we have not been told what it is," Dr. Pickton replied worriedly.

" Sir, one of Umbrella's viruses had been spread on the island. I don't know who did it or why, but this island is crawling with zombies," Phoenix said. Iris watched passively as both men talked through the phone.

There was silence on the other end. After what seemed like an eternity, Dr. Pickton replied " What would your next course of action be?"

" We will head towards the 1st island. If possible, we will board a plane or a chopper there, or a boat, although it is unlikely. If we don't find any means of transportation there, then we are as good as dead," Phoenix answered with deadly calm.

" Very well, I'll be counting on you," Dr. Pickton said. Phoenix could feel that he was trying very hard to suppress his anxiety. " May I speak to my daughter?"

" I'm sorry, we are very hard pressed for time now. You can speak to her later when we get the chance, alright," Phoenix said, switching off the line. The doors of the lift opened and Phoenix reflectively raised his sickle.

-

Dashing down the stairwell, Phoenix launched a hard kick towards a female zombie, making her fly a few feet back and land in a heap on the floor several feet away. Both Phoenix and Iris then made their way to the stationary train that seemed to be waiting for them at the station.

Phoenix immediately dashed inside and looked around. The train was empty, but several hordes of zombies were closing in on them fast on the outside. Leaving Iris to wait at the passenger compartment, Phoenix ran up to the driver's compartment.

The driver of the train had already turned into a zombie, but it had somehow locked itself inside the driver's compartment, probably when it was still human, and was now stuck inside. It started pounding on the glass door as Phoenix went up to it and aimed his Desert Eagle at it. The singular shot shattered the glass door to pieces and the zombie's head to bits.

Pulling the twitching corpse aside, Phoenix gave one quick glance at the controls. The switchboard controlling the train was all controlled by electronic switches. Phoenix flicked a switch and the doors of the train started to close, sealing off the zombies outside. Another switch started the train and it started to move out of the research island.

" What a day," Phoenix sighed, dropping on a passenger seat. Iris took one opposite him.

" You can say that again," she replied. "How are we even going to get off?"

" Being very negative, are we?"

" Tell me about it," Iris pouted. Phoenix looked at her avidly, wondering what to say. He stood up and walked up to her, surprising her slightly by tapping her on her shoulder.

" I promised your father and myself I'll get you off this island, whether it was crawling with zombies or not. And frankly, I hate to break that promise," Phoenix said softly.

" My father…and yourself?"

" You remind me of my wife, Iris, not in person but mainly in character. I'd hate to see my wife die twice, especially in a place like this," Phoenix said, walking off to check the other train compartments to make sure there were no zombies.

Iris stared at him as Phoenix walked off.

---

Max tore down the bridge at top speed, knocking several zombies aside. The car jolted slightly as it tossed a hapless zombie aside each time he hit one. Kimmy was more worried about Max's driving than getting eaten by a bunch of flesh hungry zombies.

" Why do you have to knock them aside?" Kimmy demanded.

" What? Do you want me to stop for them? I almost got bitten before because of that!" Max exclaimed. Kimmy thought he had a point.

" Hey! Watch out Maxie!" Rick exclaimed loudly, pointing in front of the car.

Max yelled loudly as he knocked down a large, fat zombie right in front of the car. It went sailing up and its head came smashing down hard on the windscreen, its head splattering like an egg on a rock. A bright red glob stained itself on the windscreen as the body fell off. Max tried to wipe off the mess using the windshield wipers, but it didn't help much.

" Damn, I wonder if he did that on purpose to block my view!" Max spat.

Max drove the car off the bridge and onto the road again. Kimmy noticed he seemed unsure of where to go, looking around frantically left and right.

" Max, do you know where you are going?" Kimmy asked, feeling panicky.

" Hell yes, I'm just finding a safe spot to place the car because we have to ditch it soon," Max replied, turning around a sharp corner.

" Why is that?" Rick piped up.

" We are out of gas."

As if on cue, the engine sputtered and car lost power, starting to slow down. Max cursed, jamming his foot on the brake to bring the car to a full stop. Jumping out of the car, he ordered the rest of them out.

The zombies surrounding them, seeing new arrivals, started to lumber towards them. Max took them to the left, but the road was cut off by a bunch of zombies. Frantically, he spun right, only at see a zombie reaching out to him. He raised his revolver and fired, blowing its brains apart.

As he moved them to the corner of the wall, he realized the situation was hopeless. More than a dozen zombies were surrounding them, and more were coming quickly. Max knew that they did not have enough ammunition to take out all of them. He had ten more shots in his revolver and Kimmy had less than half a clip of bullets left in the gun she pilfered. He gave them a fleeting glance, wondering if the bullets were better of used to spare them from an even worse fate.

Something happened a split second later that changed his mind.

A large ice-cream truck came roaring down the road, knocking a few zombies aside. Max pushed Kimmy and the kids back as the truck made a 180 degree spin and stopped right in front of them. The rear end of the truck opened, and they saw what looked like a ruffled looking teenager armed with a shotgun.

" Come on, get in you idiots!" he yelled.

Max would have hesitated for a long time if the situation was not so dire. All four of them clambered on board the truck. As soon as they were on, the truck sped off, tearing down the road.

" Thank goodness, I thought I was going to die!" Max said, propped head down on the trucks hold.

" Well, that was a close call for all of you then," the driver of the truck said.

Kimmy got up to get a look at the driver. He was a young man, about in his late twenties. Dressed in a teal cotton jacket and long nylon pants with matching colour, he looked like an out-of-place punk with his spiky hair. Kimmy had no idea why he had to wear dark goggles which made him look like some futuristic sci-fi alien of some sort.

" You don't own this truck, do you?" she asked.

" Nope, but I am not in the position to complain about it," he replied.

" You got any ammo on you?" the teenager asked.

" What?"

" Ammo…like in bullets, girl," the teenager asked again, rather rudely.

" Hey, watch your mouth, kid!" Max cried, feeling rather irritated by the teenager.

" What's you problem?" the teenager asked.

" Dalton, this isn't a place for you to start fighting! Now, mind your manners!" the driver yelled. Dalton kept quiet, walking towards a corner of the truck to sulk.

" Anyway, do you have any ammo with you?" the driver continued.

Max quickly checked his stock. " I have 10 shots left on my revolver and Kimmy here have about half a clip left. The kids aren't carrying anything," Max said, sighing loudly.

" Is that a .357?"

" Yeah, why?"

" We pilfered some ammo from some dead cops. Dalton, hand some of them over. It's not much, but we will have to make do with what we have," the driver said, making a sharp turn. Everyone felt the truck go over a bump on the right side of the vehicle.

" Here," Dalton said, dropping a bag in front of them. Max immediately bent down to take a look. There was a spare 12 gauge shotgun, two Berretta pistols of the 92 series and a .357 revolver plus ammunition for all the guns. Kimmy and Max started taking some of the small supply of ammo.

" Hey, don't take too much," Dalton scowled.

" What's your problem, kid? You have been harping up our asses since we got here," Max replied, checking the Berretta pistol.

" I'm not a kid!" Dalton yelled.

" You look like one," Max retorted.

" Hey, people, there is someone out there!" Rick suddenly exclaimed, looking out the window of the truck.

Everyone dashed towards the window to see who Rick had spotted. Max immediately recognized the person. " Hey, stop the truck, driver! Hit the reverse gear!" Max yelled.

---

The electric train came to a halt and the doors of the train opened. A zombie bared its teeth at Phoenix. He gave one swing of the sickle he had at its head and the head came off. A generous amount of blood came spurting out from its severed end. Phoenix took a step backwards to avoid getting his clothes messy.

Phoenix and Iris ran through the relatively empty train station and reached the exit. The scene was about as bad as the research island. Several buildings were on fire. The street was filled with corpses, both human and zombies. There was a pungent smell of burning flesh in the air. Most of the buildings he saw in the area were on fire.

" Oh my God," Iris gasped.

_Raccoon city all over again…_Phoenix thought.

Several seconds later, he heard a low, rumbling sound. A second later, a large ice-cream came thundering by, swooping pass them and kicking up a lot of dust. It rolled over a dead man, crushing his head. A loud yell came from the inside and the truck magically came to a stop. The truck's rear door opened and Max popped out, waving frantically at Phoenix.

" Hey, come on, hitch a ride!" he yelled.

_I'm not dreaming am I?_

Phoenix and Iris wasted not time in scrambling up the truck. A girl inside, whom Phoenix recognized as Kimmy, closed the door immediately as the truck continued on its journey to who knows where.

" Hey, buddy, nice to see you again," Max said, patting Phoenix on his shoulder.

" I'm not sure I can say the same thing about you," Phoenix said, getting up. " Where are we going in this truck?"

" You have any suggestions?" the driver asked.

" The airport on Island 1," Phoenix said.

" Why?"

" It is the best place to leave this island. Most of the airplanes and helicopters plus boats are located there. If we can get on one of them, we can leave this damned place," Phoenix said. He noted two young kids in the truck looking at him avidly waving his sickle about.

" Wait, what if we can't find any transport off this island?" Dalton voiced out his opinion.

" Then, we are totally screwed," Phoenix answered curtly.

" Who's you new girlfriend, Phoenix? Aren't you married already?" Max mused. Iris started to blush at the suggestion

" It's not what you think it is, Max," Phoenix replied. Max retorted with a giggle.

" A friend of yours?" the driver asked.

" Yeah, real old friend," Max replied.

" The situation is a bit rough, so I guess we don't need introductions that are too formal. My name's Mercury Cross. What are yours?" Mercury said.

" Max Hunter."

" Kimmy Brass."

" I'm Rick Mason, and this is my sister Vanessa."

" Dalton Mynx."

" Phoenix Grant."

" I'm…Iris...Iris Pickton."

" Where we heading now?" Phoenix asked, leaning next to Mercury.

" The 1st island, as you said, though it looks like our road is blocked," Mercury said.

Further up ahead, the entire road was blocked by vehicles that have crashed into each other. Mercury veered the truck dangerously to the left and crashed through a gate.

" This vehicle is useless. It looks like it will be on foot from now on," Mercury said, jumping out of the driver's seat while grabbing a shotgun by the dashboard.

All of them bailed out of the now useless truck. Phoenix saw that they had crashed in front of the police station. The place looked empty with none of the police officers around the place. They had either succumbed to the virus or they had been killed by the zombies crawling all over the place.

" We've got company!" Dalton yelled.

A group of zombies started to march towards the police station, attracted by the commotion the truck had caused. Several dozen zombies hobbled into the police department's compound toward a fresh supply of meat.

Everybody bolted to the door at once. Max pushed the glass doors open, yelling loudly for the rest to enter quickly. As soon as they were safely inside, he closed the doors.

" That glass door isn't going to hold them back very long," Kimmy noted.

Max and Phoenix acted at once. Lunging for the nearest desk they saw, they pushed the large oak wood table and propped it up against the glass door. They them started to pile a whole load of furniture, from chairs to table lamps, to barricade the entrance. As Max set down his third table lamp, the barricade bulged slightly, but otherwise stayed intact.

" Well, that'll hold them," Max said, wiping his brow after exerting himself.

" Not the ones inside though," Kimmy said.

Several police officers had indeed turned into zombies. They lumbered slowly towards them. Thankfully, they didn't have any brains left to use their guns.

Dalton coolly stepped forward and fired his shotgun. Rick covered Vanessa's ears as the deafening roar tore the zombie apart. His second shot caught three of them at once, spraying two in the face and severing an arm of another. He kicked the surviving one down and finished it by crushing its skull under his boot.

Max surveyed their surroundings. The police department was in total disarray, looking worse than Max on his bad days. Desks were over turned and documents were sprawled all over the place. There was not any evidence of any violence of any sort, a sign that showed probably all the police officers were infected with the virus.

" There might be more of them," Phoenix echoed Max's thoughts. " I'll go look around." Saying that, he walked off into the inner depths of the building, the sickle ready in his hands. Iris Pickton quickly followed him.

" Since we are in a police station, we may as well make full use of it," Mercury declared suddenly.

" Excuse me?" Max asked.

" Duh, idiot. This is a police station. We should take all the ammunition we can find in this wretched place," Dalton said, already using his boot to shove furniture around the place. Everyone scattered themselves around the area to look for useful items.

They spun around to the entrance as they heard loud banging sounds. The zombies, finding it impossible to enter, were now banging their fists upon the barricade. The barricade still stayed in place, but the banging sounds were very ominous.

" I'm worried," Rick moaned.

The rest of them continued with ransacking the place. None of them noticed the barricade budge several inches.

---

_Writer's note: My exams are technically not over yet, but I guess there is no point in doing last minute studying. Either that, I'm just feeling very lazy to study. Anyway, I'm back_


	14. Chapter 12: Separate Ways

**Chapter 12: Separate Ways**

Phoenix looked cautiously around the corner. The upper level of the police department was empty, or so he saw. Nobody seemed to be around the officer's desks, zombie or human.

The place was eerily quiet, save for all the horrendous moaning that was coming from the outside. The police officers were either outside doing battle with an immense force of zombies or they had opted to escape from here. Whatever the reason, they had left the building in a mess.

Phoenix casually pocketed a Beretta pistol that was lying by a desk, knowing that whoever who owned the pistol would not need it now. He stole a few clips of ammunition by the side and continued his check on the place.

He had cleared most of the top storey of the police department already. All that was left was a couple of rooms that were left unchecked. He stepped cautiously around a corner to take a look. Sickle in hand, he took a sweeping glance around the place.

A loud click made him jump.

" Sorry…" Iris said. She had apparently found an empty pistol and was trying to load a magazine into it. Phoenix sighed and shook his head, not before hearing her scream loudly.

Before he could see what had frightened her, he felt someone, or something approach him from behind. Spinning around, he came face to face with a zombie officer.

He had never seen one face to face before, and now he had his chance. The zombie was so close he could study the details on its face. Its pupils seemed to have dilated and it had rolled its eyes to its head. Pieces of skin were flaking off its face, showing signs of decaying flesh, turning mostly dark muddy brown with shades of red and purple. It gave what sounded like a pitiful roar, opening its jaws and baring its teeth at him.

He had only a second to look.

The monster grabbed him by his arms, pushing him backwards. He was surprised that it was rather strong, being able to resist the force being applied by Phoenix. They grappled one another in a weird looking wrestling match, before the zombie got the upper hand, pushing Phoenix's arms away as he stretched its head forwards for the kill.

Phoenix acted quickly. Twisting his wrist with all his might, he tired to shield his face with the sickle he was carrying. The blade came up just in time, the zombie catching it in its mouth. It struggled furiously, viciously trying to shake off the blade from Phoenix's grip even though it was tearing its mouth apart in the process.

Phoenix managed to slip one of his hands away from the zombie's grip. Using his newfound advantage, he turned slightly to the right and rammed his arm against the zombie, forcing it backwards. His quick reflexes worked. The zombie lost its grip momentarily, staggering back a few steps. He was about to go for the kill when he heard two loud gunshots. The zombies head burst opened like a water balloon, spraying him in a foul smelling blood.

" Ew…shit," he moaned, trying to wipe the blood away. Iris still had her pistol up, just in case the zombie was to rise again.

" You…are you alright…?" Iris stammered, shaking from firing the gun.

" Yeah, I guess I am…thanks," Phoenix said, looking disgustedly at his soiled clothes. He noticed Iris was still holding the gun up, her hands still shaking.

" Never fired a gun?" Phoenix questioned, walking up to her.

" Not at a person…" she said, her voice wavering.

Phoenix took his hand and gently placed it on hers, making her lower her gun. Iris felt she was barely aware that he was touching her. Only until when she felt the pistol being taken from her did she realize that she had been stunned for quite some time.

" Pretty gruesome, I know, but that's life, I guess," Phoenix replied.

She stared at the dead zombie for some time. Its face was now horribly disfigured, thanks to the bullet wounds to its head. Massive amounts of thick, red blood was pouring all over the place. Iris hated using guns, and she knew now why.

As Phoenix walked off to continue his search, she asked " How do you kill them?"

He stopped in his tracks. " Excuse me?"

" I mean, how do you do this? Isn't he a human being?" Iris asked. The room suddenly felt so cold. She wrapped her hands around herself to try to stop herself from shivering.

Phoenix was a little lost for words. He had been trained to kill. It was his work. It was part of his life. Life was priceless, he had learned, but it was also very cheap. He never realized something like this would enact such a pitiful response in normal people. She would not understand it in a way he understood, so he thought of another solution.

Walking up to the corpse, he pressed his hand down on the corpse's arm. After a while, he said " Come and touch his arm and tell me whether he is human or not."

Iris timidly moved up to him and squatted down next to the corpse. Phoenix grabbed her palm and pressed it onto the corpse's arm. She winced slightly at the touch of the zombie's rough, wrinkled up skin, but she slowly realized that there was another sensation that felt very foreign to her. Very foreign indeed.

The zombie's arm was cold, devoid of heat.

" You telling me this thing is human?" Phoenix questioned, looking at her straight in the eye.

-

" Yeah, that will do," Rick said.

He had found an empty bag pack that was lying in the corner of the room they were in. Deciding quickly to take it, he started filling it up with whatever ammunition he could find with the help of Vanessa. He winced slightly at the weight of the bag pack as Vanessa dropped several handfuls of bullets inside.

" Man, how can they be this heavy?" Rick groaned.

" This isn't some kind of movie or video game where you can stack a mountain in your pocket," Max grunted.

Rick sighed. Thinking it was enough, he zipped the bag and slung it on his shoulders. He started to wander off to another part of the area to sate his curiosity of the place. Vanessa clung on close to her brother as they moved into a room.

" How are we coming?" Max asked the rest of them.

" Good, I think. We will have enough bullets to last a while," Dalton replied, checking his shotgun.

" What should our next move be?" Kimmy asked.

" The police station is surrounded by the zombies. Either we would have to go underneath through the sewers if it is large enough or escape through the top of this building," Mercury said.

" Both of those choices are impossible!" Kimmy exclaimed.

" Well, we can always head through the door with our guns blazing," Dalton chuckled, stopping after realizing nobody else was laughing.

" Hey, people, over here! I found something interesting!" Rick suddenly exclaimed.

Almost right on cue, the barricade that Max and Phoenix had set up broke, the sound of splintering wood echoing throughout the department. All at once, a whole horde of zombies entered the room, forcing them to back up against the walls. Dalton fired his shotgun in their general direction, but the group was too large for the shot to be of any effect.

Max and Dalton ran to the nearest exit they could find in the large front office, which was a nearby office room where Rick was in. Pushing Rick and Vanessa inside, Max quickly fumbled on the lock, trying to bolt the door. As soon as he locked the door shut, a glass panel broke somewhere and he yelled in terror as he felt two pairs of hands grab him roughly.

Max heard Dalton fire several shots and the hands release their grip on him. Scrambling away, he saw the zombies smashing the glass panels of the room, trying to break into the room to get to them.

" Damn buggers. Thanks a lot," Max said, getting to his feet.

" Thank me latter. We have a serious problem here," Dalton spat.

Max could see their problem. They had entered a windowless room which was full of lockers and drawers storing loads and loads of files and documents. The only exit from the room looked like the door in which they came in, which was surrounded by a horde of zombies that were seemingly trying to tear down the door.

" Oh boy…"

The lock could not hold out long against the whole weight of the undead creatures. With a sickening crack, it burst open, with Max and Dalton firing their shotguns at the same time.

-

Rick backed himself to the deeper parts of the room, pushing his sister backwards as Max and Dalton simultaneously fired. Vanessa started covering her ears and cringing at the sound of gunfire, whimpering slightly at the sound. Rick covered her protectively, hugging her close to him.

He glanced casually around the room. There seemed to be no escape. They had conveniently entered an area to be slowly eaten alive.

Suddenly, he spotted it. At one corner of the room, hidden due to the lack of lights, Rick spotted a ventilation shaft. An area was accessible through an opening that was covered with an iron grill. Rick knew he had seen in enough movies of people going through ventilation shafts and hoped it works. However, he needed something to draw the zombies attention away first.

He felt someone tap his hand. He looked to see his sister trying to get his attention. She held up a device to him and plopped it in his hand. His eyes suddenly bulged as he saw what the item was.

" Vanessa, where the hell did you get this from?" Rick demanded. Vanessa didn't answer.

" Crap!" Max cursed, his shotgun empty. He tried frantically to reload his weapon as the zombies continued to pour into the room in an unstoppable wave. Rick realized he would have to leave the questions for later.

-

" Max!" Kimmy yelled helplessly as Max and Dalton getting cornered in the storage room. Desperately, she tried to rush into the ongoing wave of zombies, but a strong grip enclosed itself upon her arm like a vice. Tugging her roughly, Mercury pulled her hand hard, dragging her towards the staircase that leads to the second storey.

" Wait a sec, what are you doing?" Kimmy exclaimed, trying to free herself.

" What are you doing girl?" Mercury exclaimed.

" They are inside! They are inside that room! We need to help them!" she yelled, breaking free from his grasp. However, Mercury had now encircled his arm around her, pulling her back.

" What the hell are you doing!" Kimmy yelled.

" Pull yourself together, you fool. What's the point in going in now? They are surrounded, and we don't have the means to kill off the whole crowd of zombies, and frankly I'm not going to let you die for no reason!" Mercury argued, practically dragging her along.

" But…"

" If they are resourceful enough, they can get out of the place by themselves. If you have something to worry about, then worry about yourself first," Mercury replied calmly.

Kimmy stared at the man. She desperately did not want to leave Max behind, but there was reason in his words. Struggling against her conscience, she hurried along with Mercury up the stairs of the police department.

A group of zombies separated themselves from the main pack and started following them upstairs. Both of them hurriedly ran to the upper level, their legs straining against the creaking floorboards. Kimmy spun around to fire a few shots at the on coming zombies, dropping two of them, but there were too many in number to make any significant difference.

Mercury burst through the top floor, panting heavily. Spotting a large wooden table nearby, he moved across the room and heaved his body upon the furniture towards the direction of the staircase. As soon as Kimmy came through, Mercury quickly shoved it in place and tipped the table down the stairs. The zombies that were trying to get to them were unceremoniously knocked aside or pushed backwards. Kimmy could hear a distinctive sound of one of their bones cracking.

" What the heck is going on here?" Phoenix demanded, suddenly appearing. Loud gunshots could now be heard from downstairs.

" Wait…where are the others, Mercury?" Iris asked, noticing their reduced number.

" We got separated…" Mercury said, huffing.

" Sounds like they are still alive," Phoenix commented, hearing the sound of gunshots.

" We will have to just hope that they can find a way out of here. Right now there are other things of more importance. We need to find an exit, and fast. The zombies are crawling all over the place," Mercury replied, looking out of one of the windows. " And quick, because the zombies are coming up again!"

Kimmy took a peek at the staircase. Sure enough, the zombies were picking themselves up and heading up the stairs again.

Tucking his weapon to his trousers, Phoenix headed to one of the desks. Rolling up his sleeves, he said " Well, you guys better go find an exit quick. I'll try to stall them as long as I can." With that, he gave the table a shove.

-

Max swore as his weapon ran out of shells. The zombies were relentless, pouring in every second. Desperately, he tried to load his gun with more shells, but he knew their situation was beyond help. Besides, looking at the number of zombies pouring in, he knew their ammunition will not last.

As Dalton went down to the last shell in his gun, Max practically gave up hope. They were stuck in a small room with army of hungry monsters coming right at them. He stared aimlessly in their general direction.

It was one of the reasons why he did not see a round, green object fly pass over his head.

The explosion was enourmous. The echo of the blast rang loudly in his ears. He felt a great surge of heat well up in front of him and the smell of burnt flesh thick in the air. Both he and Dalton reflectively raised their hands to cover their eyes from the bright light that practically blinded them. Max lost his balance and fell on the floor. Then, it was all over, but his ears were still ringing.

Max took a look at the damage. The explosion blew a gaping hole at the door, the surrounding walls reduced to crumbling bits of cement. There was a smoking, black crater several feet in front of them. Most of the zombies in the vicinity had been blown to smithereens, or were now burning corpses scattered all around the room. The explosion had stunned the rest of the zombies outside the room, rendering them harmless for a while. There was a horrible smell of burnt flesh, but Max was not complaining.

" Cool!" Rick exclaimed.

" What the hell did you do!" Dalton yelled angrily, spit flying from his mouth.

" I just lobbed a grenade," Rick said, rather proudly, like it was some sort of achievement.

"Whatever it was, it was brilliant," Max exclaimed, running out the door. However, he skidded to a halt as he came face to face with more zombies that were not taken out by the blast and were recovering from the shock.

" Bad idea!" he cried, running back inside.

" Forget it, Max! Let's escape through here!" Rick exclaimed, pointing upwards to the ceiling where the ventilation shaft was.

" Right, good work," Max replied, loading a shell into his shotgun. Taking aim, he blew the iron grill apart, making an opening for them to enter. Tossing the gun aside, he picked a squeamish Vanessa and hoisted her up into the vent. Not missing a beat, he hoisted Rick up as well.

" Move your ass up there," Max ordered Dalton.

" What?"

" I'm not carrying you up there, if that's what you mean…"

Dalton leaped up inside the vent. Hearing the shuffling of feet, Max saw that a fresh new wave of zombies was back. He still saw, to his horror that Dalton was still struggling to get up.

The vent was small a cramped, just big enough for an adult to squeeze through. Dalton, being rather broad, had trouble squeezing through the cramped ventilation shaft. Moreover, he was still carrying his shotgun, which was making things worse.

" Asshole! Just drop the gun!" Max screamed.

" Can't, you idiot! I've got no weapon left!" he exclaimed.

Seeing the zombies approaching made Max take action. Grabbing Dalton by his legs, he shoved him upwards. Dalton gave a yelp as Max forcibly pushed him upward. Max scrambled frantically up the shaft as the first zombie made a lunge for him. He yelled as he felt a hand grip his foot. Luckily, it was not a strong grip and it slipped loose, allowing him to squeeze into the vent.

" What is your problem?" Dalton exclaimed.

" You want me to be zombie chow or what?" Max scolded, feeling rather pissed.

" How am I supposed to crawl on my back huh?" Dalton demanded.

" Just shut up and crawl," Max seethed. After a few seconds, Dalton did not move an inch. Getting frustrated at him with each passing second, he yelled " Hey, didn't you hear me?"

" Heard you alright. I'm stuck."

-

As Phoenix tipped the second desk down the staircase, a loud explosion rang all over the place. He almost lost his balance and fell down the stairs, gripping the banister just in time to stop his fall.

" Hell, where the heck did those guys get a bomb?" Phoenix mused.

" What was that?" Iris asked.

" A grenade, I think. Wonder where they got it from…" Mercury mused.

" Hey, over here!"

Mercury, Phoenix and Iris ran to where Kimmy was. She was standing next to a window. When they arrived, she took a chair and flung it towards the window. The glass panel shattered to bits as the chair was unceremoniously thrown out.

" Looks like the pile of garbage here will stop our fall," Kimmy said, boldly leaping out of the window. She landed perfectly on a heap of black plastic bags down below.

" Oh my God, there are zombies there on the street!" Iris exclaimed. Kimmy started firing her pistol towards the first zombie she saw, aiming for headshots. Mercury took her cue and leaped off the window ledge.

" I'd rather take that chance that stay here," Phoenix retorted. He turned around to see several zombies already reaching the second level. Turning back to Iris, he continued " After you…"

Iris tentatively looked out of the buildings window. It was just the second storey, a several feet of the ground, and the pile of rubbish below would comfortably cushion her fall, but Iris Pickton had a long problem with heights, even at a few feet high.

As she was contemplation her jump, Phoenix decided she was too slow. Sweeping her up in his hands, he leaped out of the window before she knew it, cradling her in his arms. She gave out a short scream until she landed with a bump on a soft pile of garbage.

" See, wasn't that bad," Phoenix remarked. She instantly hit him on his head.

" We better move quickly," Mercury urged them along.

The four of them zigzagged through the back alleyway of the police station. Most of the zombies had opted to converge on the front entrance, so the surrounding area was rather deserted, save for several others. These small numbers were too slow to keep up with their speed as they continued on their way down the back alleys.

" Over here!" Mercury motioned.

He turned around a corner and clambered up a metal fence. He was quickly followed by the rest of them. Dropping down on the opposite side, they saw that they had reached a large open park, connecting to the main road of the place. Luckily for them, the place seemed devoid of zombies, for now.

" Well, the fence can keep them apart for a while," Kimmy replied, wiping her forehead. Iris noted that he had a worried look on her face.

_Guess she's worried about the others…_

" Can someone explain to me what the heck is THIS doing here?" Phoenix asked, pointing to a crumpled heap by the side of the fence. Nobody really took notice of it at first after climbing over the fence as the object was partially hidden by a garbage bin. Everybody came to take a look, and gave a collective gasp.

" My God…" Kimmy moaned.


	15. Chapter 13: Creator

**Chapter 13: Creator**

All was quiet outside the police department. Most of the zombies have converged inside the building, and now, finding nothing to feed on, they were wandering aimlessly around the place or stayed where they were, like sentries just waiting to something to pass by.

With a loud crash, an iron grill by the side of the wall burst open. Wriggling out, Rick slipped out of the dark, cold confines of the chilling ventilation shaft. He stretched himself slightly, and then returned to pull his sister out. He checked whether she was alright before returning to see how the other two were doing.

Dalton came out cursing, popping out like a cork from a Champaign bottle. He got up and started jumping around, trying to loosen his muscles before turning savagely at Max who was in the process of getting out.

" Bloody asshole, why did you have to kick me like that?" Dalton snarled menacingly.

" Hey, you said you were stuck, and all I did was help you get out," Max replied, brushing his shoulders and tucking in his shirt.

Rick took a good look around. They had emerged at what looked like the back alleyway of the police station. Thankfully, there were no zombies around, at the moment.

" Hey, kid," Dalton said, nudging Rick on his shoulder. " Where the hell did you get that grenade?"

" Who cares where he got it from? Our asses were saved from that," Max retorted.

" You aren't very bright, are you?" Dalton sighed.

" Excuse me?"

" He lobbed a grenade, dummy. As far as I am concerned, the U.S. government does not arm their police officers with grenades, especially not lying around in a document room. They store that in an armoury," Dalton replied.

" What's your point?" Max asked.

" That's the point. Why is the police department having grenades lying around? Not sure why, but sounds very funny to me…" Dalton replied.

" Dunno, my sister got it," Rick said. " Hey, Vanessa, where did you get that stuff?"

Vanessa looked blankly at them for a while, then dug into he pockets. Max and Dalton's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as she produced two grenades. Max went up to her and gingerly relieved her of the two explosives, checking them cautiously. Satisfied, he said " Yeah, real grenades, alright. Where did you get them, girl?"

Vanessa pointed directly to the police department. " Yes, I know that. Exactly where?" Max repeated.

" Exactly where she is pointing," Dalton scoffed.

Max suddenly saw what he meant. Vanessa was not pointing directly to the police department. Her outstretched finger was directing them to the nearest garbage pile that was close-by. Max understood why.

Lying in a crumpled up heap was a man. Not just any man. This man was dressed in full Kevlar armour, along with a helmet. Max was not too sure of armour types, but he figured it was a type IV armour. He was dressed head to toe in military gear, ranging from his backpack to his radio set equipped on his legs. An M16A4 rifle lay by his side, the safety mechanism not switched off and a M203 grenade launcher was connected to the rifle. There was a barely noticeable bite mark on his leg, which was probably the cause of his death, since there were no other wounds visible.

" I'd be damned, the U.S. Navy Seals," Dalton said, noticing the Seal's trident on the man's vest.

" What the heck killed this man?" Max asked.

" That leg bite, probably," Rick suggested. Vanessa was now cowering behind him, taking timid looks at the corpses.

" You saw this kind of a guy inside the room we were in earlier?" Max asked. Vanessa nodded, though she was visibly shaking.

Max sighed to himself. " Man, what am I doing? Sorry, Vanessa. Rick get your sister away from this corpse," Max motioned Rick to leave. He returned his attention to the dead man as soon as Vanessa and Rick were slightly out of range.

" That leg bite? Maybe, but what is the look on his face?" Dalton asked.

Max wanted to ask the same question. The man's face was horribly disfigured, not by any external forces, but by sheer and intense agony. The man probably died writhing in pain.

" Looks like poison," Max remarked.

" From what? That leg bite?" Dalton asked.

" Raccoon city had some large, oversized spiders as big as us crawling around during the outbreak. Maybe this outbreak cause the same reaction," Max suggested.

" Freaky…hey, what the hell are you doing?"

Max bent down on the corpse and started taking off the man's body armour and equipment. Dalton gave a disgusted face as Max slipped on the armour on himself. He checked his newly acquired inventory, which had bullet clips, flares, a combat knife, several packets of unknown material that would take too long to check and a broken radio. He took up the rifle and clicked the safety off.

" Hey, he's dead. We may as well use it," Max replied, checking out the gun. Dalton stuck out his tongue. They were desperate to stay alive, but Dalton was not that desperate to wear some dead man's clothes.

" We better move," Max suggested.

---

" Why are the Navy Seals here?" Kimmy asked, staring at the dead body, propped up against the fence. There were several severe bite marks on his legs. He apparently bled to death.

" Well, this tells us a few things…" Mercury mused.

Everybody turned to him. " Explains what?" Phoenix asked.

" Well firstly, this shows us that the U.S. government knew before hand that there was going to be an outbreak and they sent their forces in here," Mercury said.

" Wait, what are you saying?" Iris asked.

" This is too much of a coincidence. The outbreak has barely started and these armed people are already here. Seriously, I can't think of any other reason for them to be here, except for the outbreak. Might be a coincidence, but I don't believe that. It would take them several hours to get ready and come here from the mainland. This shows that they had prior knowledge to this outbreak," Mercury said.

" How's that possible?" a voice asked.

" Max!" Phoenix exclaimed, almost jumping from hearing his voice.

" Hey, what's up?" he said rather jovially. He was with Dalton and the two kids. He hoisted Rick and Vanessa over the fence to their side before climbing over along with Dalton. They noticed he was dressed differently.

" Yeah, I took this off another unfortunate bastard," Max replied, seeing the others looking strangely at his new body armour he was wearing.

" Are you guys alright?" Kimmy asked, overjoyed at seeing Max and the others still alive.

" Yeah, I guess…" Dalton replied morosely.

" So, what's this about the U.S. government being too well informed?" Max repeated his question.

" The virus used in this outbreak is a newer version of the base virus Umbrella uses for its research, the T virus. So, the only people keeping an eye on this virus would be Umbrella and its affiliates. The government being very quick to respond would mean that they have inside information about Umbrella, or worse, they are cooperating with them," Mercury replied.

" What the heck is the T virus?" Max asked.

" One of the base viruses Umbrella makes, the very one responsible for the Raccoon city outbreak," Mercury replied.

" Wait a second here, how the hell do you know so much about these things?" Kimmy demanded, sounding suspicious.

" That's it! No wonder your name sounded familiar!" Phoenix exclaimed suddenly, his face lightened up. Everyone spun to him to look at him.

" Mercury Cross…aren't you one of the researchers of Umbrella being charged for the involvement of the outbreak in Raccoon city?" Phoenix asked.

" Guilty as charged…" Mercury said, sighing and shrugging his shoulders.

As soon as those words escaped his mouth, Kimmy launched herself at him, smashing his face with a powerful swing of her fist. The rest of them looked at the spectacle, most of them with their mouths wide open as they looked at Kimmy punching Mercury. The blow was so hard it knocked him on the ground in an instant. It was until they realized that she was about to pounce on him to deliver a second blow before Dalton intervened.

" Crazy woman! What the heck do you think you are doing?" Dalton yelled, grabbing her quickly by the waist and pulling her back just in time. For that, he got a violent smack on his forehead.

" Kimmy, that's enough!" Max exclaimed, dropping his rifle and going to Dalton's aid. Apparently, it was not enough. Kimmy started violently beating Max with her fists, trying to make them let go of her. Max winced in pain. Kimmy's blows were extremely painful. It was as if she had been possessed by some demon that was giving her inhuman strength.

Max locked his leg and hers together, sending her tumbling on the ground. Max pressed his fore arm hard on her neck, pining her down with the help of Dalton.

" Get off me! I'm gonna kill that man!" Kimmy roared. She tried to pushed them off, but they were just too heavy.

" Kimmy, stop this! You are just wasting your energy!" Max pleaded. She started to slow in her efforts, but Max suspected that it was more due to the fact that she was loosing energy due to her exertions. After making sure that she was too tired to put up a fight, Max got off her, but Dalton was not too sure about that.

" Dalton, it's alright. Get off her," Mercury ordered, wiping blood from his mouth. Dalton rolled over, allowing Kimmy to sit up.

" I don't blame you for your actions, girl, and frankly, I think that was a well deserved punch. However, we will be wasting our time here. I suggest that we keep on moving. You can save your punches for later," Mercury said. " There are a few things I think I need to explain about this virus, so I suggest we start move while I talk about it."

" Agreed…" Phoenix said. He turned around to start taking off the dead Navy SEAL's equipment, just like what Max did.

" So, is this a new virus going around here?" Max questioned.

" Not really," Mercury started explaining. " The T virus works in turning humans into zombies by taking over the bodies systems. Some will mutate to other forms, but this is rare. The T virus can also affect other living beings, ranging from dogs to birds to insects. For mammals, they usually turn into savage beings that start hunting for human flesh, but things are a little different for animals that are not mammals. For example, there are tests that show that the T virus can mutate spiders till about our size and body mass."

Iris gave a perceptible gulp.

" This virus is altered in a way. It is named the TS virus. Property wise, it works in the same way as the T virus. After going through various testing, human DNA samples were infused with the virus. The original T virus can be spread through air, but it was ineffective using that sort of transport medium. The TS virus solved that. Once it enters the human body, the human DNA, in a way, self-destructs, leaving remnants of the T virus to infect the host cells, namely us."

" Hang on, you said this virus is airborne. Why aren't we infected?" Max questioned.

" Inducing the human DNA has, in a way, weakened the virus slightly. According to test results, some people are immune to the virus. Why this is so, I can't explain. 1 in 10 people express this trait, according to statistics. But, once the people turn into zombies, the TS virus conveniently turns to the original T virus, so if you get bitten, you will be conveniently screwed."

" And how in the world did it end up here?" Iris asked. Phoenix was done removing all the equipment from the dead man.

" This is clearly not Umbrella's doing, if that's what you are asking," Mercury replied.

" Why do you say that?" Max asked, as the entire group started to move from the area. Dalton went up a few steps ahead in front to check if they had any company around.

" Umbrella had not been able to successfully manufacture this virus in a large and, in their terms, 'industrial' scale. To be able to replicate the virus, they would need an original sample. Since exposure to air will quickly vaporize it, they could not manufacture it quick enough. They were transporting it to a suitable research facility to replicate the virus. They had only one sample left of the virus. Apparently, it didn't reach there and they lost their only sample."

" That sucks. And it ended up here of all places," Max groaned.

" Umbrella would not want to loose their precious sample, thus this puts them out of the picture. People in general would not like it at all, so we can rule out the general populace. I would place my bet on someone who has a grudge on Umbrella or is against them and wants to use their own virus against them."

" How'd you come up with that?" Phoenix asked.

" Simple, Strycorp's research centers here are all under Umbrella," Mercury replied. From Max's and Dalton's faces, it was apparent they did not know about all this.

" Yes, that we are aware of," Iris replied, looking at Phoenix.

" The TS virus would work as a quick and effective weapon to destroy Strycorps, or Umbrella, here. I'm not sure who did this, but I cannot think of any other scenario possible. They somehow obtained the virus from Umbrella and decided to throw it around here. This city, unfortunately, became collateral damage."

" This sucks…" Max moaned.

" Look on the bright side: They won't be able to use this virus ever again in the future…well, hopefully," Mercury replied. The reproachful looks the other gave him told him his comment did not help at all.

" Yeah, if they can insert a human DNA, they can insert another," Rick exclaimed, wondering if that was the reason why the rest of them thought his comment did not make any sense.

" Yes, that might work, but the TS virus was encoded with a genome from an entire person. They won't be finding him anytime or anywhere soon. I'm not sure about the effects of combining with other human genomes, since most of them are failures as the virus can't handle the complex codes we have, but for this case, it worked, but Umbrella won't be able to access this person easily," Mercury answered.

" Why is that?" Phoenix asked.

" Simple: I made that virus, and the human DNA was taken from me," Mercury replied calmly.

It was as if he dropped a bomb. Everyone stopped in their tracks, staring at him incredulously, somehow hoping that he did not say that right. Even Dalton, who knew Mercury better than the rest of them , seemed shocked to hear such a thing, coming from him. He merely gazed at them, rather unfazed at the reaction they had.

" That has got to be a joke, right? You created this piece of shit?" Max asked.

" Accidentally, yes…"

" Accidentally? Now you are switching stories?" Phoenix scowled.

" No, not really. I was actually trying to find a cure for the virus," Mercury defended.

" You tried to make a cure by making a virus?"

" Please now, you don't understand me. Although it is a one in a million chance, the virus can be suppressed, depending on the specific person's gene. It has been proven, and it is where Umbrella obtains most of its antibodies and antidotes against the viruses they make, albeit they are sometimes ineffective and they have only a 50 performance rate. I tried whatever blood samples I could find, including mine. It is after all a virus, and it works as other viruses do. I just never thought it would end up this way," Mercury replied.

" Earlier you said that you made it, you make it sound…" Iris started.

" What I say is of no importance to my defense. It is what you people think that makes any difference. Me, a former Umbrella employee who has been charged with crimes of random incidents involving the virus. If I said I was innocent, would you believe me? Maybe, but most of you and the majority won't. No doubt, it was an accident, but I don't think most of you will think of me that way. To tell you the truth, I joined Umbrella for other reasons, but that friend of yours won't be convinced, no?" Mercury said, pointing towards Kimmy, who was still fixing him in a deadly glare.

" Maybe…" Rick answered.

" Wait, if you say that this virus is based on your DNA, are you immune to it?" Iris posed a question.

" Nice guess. Ironically, yes," Mercury replied. It was Max's turn to scowl.

" How would we know we are infected?" she asked again.

" Well, one way would be to test your blood, I guess. The virus enters the body and it will take about 24 hours roughly to spoil and take over your system. A hybrid liquid of a blue methyl complex solution with some mineral salts of a specific ratio is mixed with your blood. If it turns green, you're screwed."

Max felt his stomach sink. He suddenly remembered the weird, unknown solution he found in Prof. Mason's room. It was too much of a coincidence. Was he expecting something like this to happen?

" You look sick, Max. Got bad results in the blood test?" Phoenix asked, noticing Max going pale slightly.

" No, just remembered something," Max said, trying not to think about it too much.

" Second would be by observation. If the subject happens to cough, then sneeze and then get a headache within a space of one minute each and continues to experience these symptoms, then the subject is also screwed," Mercury continued.

" NOOO!!!" Kimmy howled suddenly, making everybody jump. She suddenly dropped to her knees, her hands to her mouth. She was evidently crying all of a sudden, tears quickly streaming down her eyes.

" Kimmy, what's wrong? Hey, talk to me!" Max exclaimed, dropping his weapon and kneeling next to her. She continued to cry, her whole body trembling. The others were not too sure what to do, so they kept their distance. Phoenix was more worried that her scream had attracted attention and he was keeping his eyes peeled all around them.

" …No…Scott…Kayla…" she sobbed. Max started rubbing her back, trying to soothe her. She eventually did calm down, not before glaring at Mercury with spite. Her reddened eyes seemed to amplify her anger.

" Um…I'm sorry, Kimmy," was all Mercury could muster.


	16. Chapter 14: Means of Escape

**Chapter 14: Means of Escape**

" Maybe you shouldn't speak for a while," Phoenix said, as Mercury continued to rub his jaw. The first punch Kimmy landed upon him was hard, but it could not compare to the second one she gave him. It was full of fury and rage. Mercury wondered if she had dislocated his jaw. It was hurting real bad now.

" I'll keep that in mind," Mercury replied. It even hurt when he talked. " So, you were a former mercenary from Umbrella with your pal Max there, is it?"

" Yeah, and he's not really my pal. We just know each other," Phoenix scoffed.

" Really? He seemed really close to you…" Mercury said.

" What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" Phoenix growled, tightening his grip.

" Nothing really," Mercury chuckled, quickly stopping as he was hurting his jaw in the process. " I wonder why Kimmy doesn't seem to hate you two so much. In fact, she seems quite close to Max."

Phoenix took a look behind them. Max was huddled close to Kimmy, talking in low tones, probably trying to calm her down. Indeed, they were close. They were sitting against a wall and Max had one hand over her shoulder and another holding her hands. Phoenix felt slightly envious, before he realized that he felt lonely inside. It had not really been long, but Phoenix felt that it had been a long time since he last felt Sara Corrine touch his hand.

It had been an odd match. Phoenix was the cold, stern and unforgiving person. Sara was just the opposite: she was charming, vivacious, loving and most of all; she took a liking into Phoenix, something that rarely happens to him.

He remembered meeting her for the first time when Phoenix was on his first mission. He was sent to guard an important person in the Umbrella Corporation that will be having frequent visits to the Harvard. Not that they were expecting anyone to kill him there, but it was more of a matter of formality.

" I see you hanging around here a lot. You aren't one of our students, are you?" a young, blonde and attractive lady asked.

Phoenix kept quiet.

" The silent type huh? I like that," she said, smiling at him.

" Why do you think that is so?" Mercury's voice suddenly disrupted his daydream. He shook his head and looked. He was back at seeing Max huddled close with Kimmy.

" Kimmy and us go way back. Beside, we are just mercenaries, not really involved with all this shit you people do, so I guess she doesn't mind us," Phoenix answered.

They heard a quick shuffling sound. Phoenix gripped his rifle, alert and ready. He could guess who was coming, but he would rather like to be ready just in case.

" Made it…" Dalton huffed, popping up from the side of the wall where they were all hidden. They were now hiding somewhere behind an empty house. Not wanting to attract the attention of zombies by moving in such a large group, Dalton had volunteered to scout ahead first before they planned any next moves.

" Well?" Phoenix asked. Max and Kimmy were alerted of Dalton's arrival and both of them came over to join the group, along with Rick and Vanessa. Kimmy had stopped crying now, but her eyes looked slightly bloodshot. She was not fuming now, but Mercury could still see spite in her eyes as she glanced at him. He tried to avoid her gaze, which was easy with his dark goggles.

" I've check the surrounding perimeter of the train station," he huffed.

" And how as it?" Mercury asked.

Mercury and Phoenix had come up with a plan to reach the 1st island. The journey would be arduous and taxing, especially with children in tow, if they were to make it there on foot. Besides, their ammunition probably would not last with all the zombies they would have to face along the way. Obtaining the vehicle was out of the question: there were not too many usable vehicles and they would be wasting their time trying to find one. Moreover, there was no guarantee that the roads were not blocked from all the chaos that was raging about them.

Mercury then suggested the train. Specter Island had somehow built an old train system what was mainly used to ferry goods between the islands during its construction, as there were difficulties getting trucks and other ands vehicles around. It has been put out of commission for some time already, although a carriage or two were used sometimes to transfer goods back and forth the city and the airport.

By using the train, they could easily avoid any unnecessary encounters with the zombies. The track will take them straight to the 1st island, and hopefully, their path will be unobstructed.

" Alright, I've searched the station. Nobody seems to be manning it, and there are barely any zombies around, which is hardly surprising. A train is already on the tracks and its looks like it is ready to go, but I don't have any guarantee that it will run. But it looks like it is in a good condition, so I'm hopeful."

" That sounds…"

" Hang on! I don't have time. We've got bad news. I'm not sure why, but from a vantage point at the station, I could see that all the zombies around the enter perimeter of this area is converging over here," Dalton spat.

" What?" Max exclaimed.

" If we are to take the train, then it better work, if not, we will be surrounded by the whole lot of them. Anyway, it looks bleak. They are probably cutting off any other exits we have. So, what's your take?" Dalton replied.

" But, we don't have any other choice, do we? Unless you'd like to walk take a long walk using the bridges," Iris commented.

" But what if…"

" Make up your minds quickly! If not, even the train will be inaccessible!" Dalton cried.

" Fine! Let's go! It isn't much of a choice anyway. We can make the best out of it!" Phoenix said, jumping to his feet. The rest of them scrambled to their feet as Dalton lead the way towards the train station.

The train station was located several blocks down the road from where they were waiting. It was not a large station, and it looked like it was maintained very minimally. The place was surrounded by an iron fence and rusty steel gates for the entrance. The place was devoid of life, human or zombie.

" Let's pick this up people!" Dalton cried.

Not too far away, several zombies were already heading towards their direction. As soon as they were in, Max tugged the rusty gate to close it shut. He threw the bolt over the gate to lock it shut. Several zombies came up to the fence and started shaking it. He backed up slowly from the gate.

" Well, at least they are too dumb to climb fences," Max snorted. It was at that exact moment that one of the zombies started to pull herself up the gate.

" Seriously, you can't think that the zombies can only walk in on direction, do you?" Mercury replied.

" Darn you, Max. Stop saying such things!" Phoenix cried. He took the sickle that he had hung on his belt and hacked the zombie's hand viciously with one swipe. It broke of from its joints and fell to the floor, trampled upon other on-coming zombies.

" Come on, forget about it! We better board the train!" Dalton yelled.

Most of the trains, which were not much, were parked at their specific stations, locked and not ready to be used. However, as Dalton mentioned, there was a lone train sitting on the main tracks, the doors left open. It was a two carriage train, painted green but with obvious spots of rust and decay. Specter Island did not think too highly of their train system. They hoped that it would not be a fatal mistake for their sake.

Phoenix leaped up the train and ran immediately to the driver's console. It was an older model which they had not bothered to upgrade. There were only a few gears and switches plus several meter gauges around, but he had no idea what switch was for what.

" Move over!" Dalton said, shoving Phoenix aside as he saw he was lost with the controls. Phoenix gave an audible huff as the rest of them climbed in.

" What's with all these stuff?" Max commented.

There were crates full of boxes that were crammed inside the train. Most of them were steel crates, although there were several wooden ones. There was a strong, fishy smell that came from a box at the corner of the main carriage.

" This train isn't supposed to carry passengers. It was suppose to carry supplies from the harbour and the airport. Guess this was a new shipment," Mercury answered.

" Shit! This train is screwed! It's not moving!" Dalton said. Phoenix scoffed at him.

" Maybe it is an engine problem. The fuel and other statistics are looking fine," Iris suggested.

" Then we are fucking screwed! I can't fix a damn engine!" Dalton gripped.

" You can't, but I can," Iris said, jumping out of the train through and open door. Phoenix and Dalton followed her out, where she opened up a hatch by the train's side. She peered into the train's innards, frowning.

" What's wrong?" Phoenix asked.

" Hmm, I can try to fix it…well, we'll see…first I need a tool box, with tools," she said.

" Zombies are breaking in," Rick warned, pointing towards the gate. The number had brown bigger, and the rusty gate was obviously straining under the weight of the entire mass of them.

" We'll hold them off! Iris, get this train fixed quick!" Phoenix cried, cocking his rifle and running towards the gate. Dalton followed closely. Mercury emerged from the train with a toolbox in hand. Iris immediately set to work, taking out a spanner and cracking something inside, although she then started whining about getting her hands messy with grease.

" You think we can count on her?" Kimmy asked. Max spun around. It was the first thing she said after she punched Mercury earlier. She seemed less angry now, feeling more worried about the situation.

" Well, it's the only thing we can count on," Max said.

" You seem optimistic about this…" Kimmy said.

" Well…it works, in a way…" Max replied.

" What do you think of our chances of getting off this island?" Kimmy asked.

" I don't think about it, we are getting off!" Max cried, putting up a brave front.

" Boys…" Kimmy sighed, smiling.

A shotgun shot went out in the distance. They saw Dalton trying to pulling off another shot when Phoenix stopped him and started yelling about something that sounded like conserving bullets. Max looked at whatever store of crates there were in the train. Unfortunately, they did not store any weapons.

Not in a way.

" Hey, Max what are you doing?" Kimmy asked, spotting him pulling a large crate.

---

" Damn you, what's the point in shooting them now?" Phoenix asked.

The zombies were still effectively being held back by the rusty gate, but it would not hold for long from all the loud creaking noises it was making, indicating it would break under the strain soon. Phoenix and Dalton braced themselves from the on-coming crowd, hoping Iris could fix the train quickly.

" What's that?" Dalton asked suddenly.

Phoenix turned around to see what was Dalton talking about. Max and Kimmy were both dragging a wooden crate each. At the far distance, Rick and Vanessa were also pulling a crate along.

" What's the meaning of this?" Phoenix asked. Max took out the combat knife he had and jammed it into the wedge between the nailed crate cover. He slammed his foot hard over the knife, prying the crate open. He pulled the cover open, exposing a whole crate of bottles.

" Molotov cocktails…we can save some ammo with this," Max said, tapping the wine bottles.

" And what the heck are we suppose to light it up with?" Phoenix questioned as Max moved to open the second crate.

" I've got a lighter…" Max replied. " Well, the dead person whom I took this vest from did…"

" How are we going to set the bombs off?" Dalton asked. " We don't have a fuse or anything."

" Just throw them. We'll light them up in a bonfire after we soak them in wine!" Max replied, picking up two bottles and hurling one of them towards the zombie crowd. It hit one zombie squarely in its head, making it reel backwards, soaking the surrounding zombies in wine as the bottle was smashed to bits.

The rest of them followed suit. Bottles went flying towards the zombies, smashing all over the place. The sound of breaking glass rang out in the air. The four of them continued to throw a barrage of bottles at the zombies.

As soon as they were done with both crates, the gate broke, giving way for the zombies to enter. Max instantly dug into his pocket and retrieved a small, black lighter. He flicked the lighter a few times before the flame emerged.

" You know, did you think of how you are going to keep that flame going when you throw it at them?" Kimmy asked. Max looked at him for a while, before slapping his head hard. He had obviously not thought of that.

" Oh, crap, don't tell me that was all for nothing!" Dalton moaned, raising his gun to meet the zombies.

" Stand back!" Phoenix said, tugging Dalton by his sleeve and pulling him backwards. Dalton was about to bite back when Phoenix raised his rifle and fired a burst from the grenade launcher.

The grenade exploded in the middle of the zombie group, and it erupted into a great, fiery fireball that rose several meters into the sky. Max winced, raising his hands to his face as he felt the intense heat sear his face. The heat was intense, forcing them to back up a little bit before looking at the damage they had inflicted.

The first line of zombies were totally toast from the intense fire, reducing them to mere burning corpses. The flames were effective in keeping the rest of the zombies back. However, the fire did not last long as the alcohol in the wine burnt out too quickly. Some zombies, as they were impervious to pain, wobbled into the compound by walking through the fire, allowing themselves to burn in the process. This did not stop them though, and Phoenix had to fire a few rounds to keep them back. A zombie on fire was more dangerous than one that was not burning to cinders.

" That only lasted a while…" Phoenix sighed, taking aim at the next zombie.

" Well, let's keep the fire burning!" Max said, breaking open the crate Rick and Vanessa brought. He took a bottle and lobbed it at the direction of the zombies, flames erupting from the throw, setting more zombies on fire.

---

" What are they doing?" Iris asked, looking up.

" Keeping the zombies effectively at bay. Just keep working on the train," Mercury said.

Iris started twisting a spanner to fix something in place. She gave a yelp as the spanner slipped from her greasy hands and dropped into the engine. Sighing, she went for another spanner in the tool box.

" Um, Mercury, give me a hand. Try to look around and see if you can find any engine oil and machine oil," Iris pleaded.

" Well, alright…wait, let me take a look," Mercury said, turning away and running off. Iris returned her attention to the engine.

---

" We are out…" Dalton moaned, looking at the empty crate.

" Crap, guess we have to use raw firepower then," Max replied, cocking his rifle.

The zombies marched in and all of them opened fire. Several zombies were stopped short in their tracks by perfect headshots to their heads, blowing their brains open. It was the most effective way to stop a zombie, since it was able to soak up tons of ballistic damage.

" Why do their heads pop when we shot at it?" Max suddenly mused. Kimmy looked at him in a weird way. Nobody really thought of it, but maybe it was due to the fact they could not pay much attention when they were under such tense situations.

" The virus degenerates the body systems, and it makes the body sort of fragile. The bones in the head probably don't hold out too well," Phoenix replied, popping another zombies head.

" Man, we would be able to settle them if there were not so many of them," Kimmy moaned, loading another magazine into her pistol.

Max felt his rifle click against an empty barrel. Dropping his empty magazine, he loaded a fresh clip into the rifle. As he took aim, Phoenix held his arm, stopping him from shooting.

" Wait, we'll fire the grenade launchers simultaneously. It'll buy some time," Phoenix said. Max nodded in agreement and took aim. At Phoenix's signal, both Max and him fired a round at the zombies. The grenades blow up in the zombie crowd, blowing them to pieces and sending their limbs flying all over the place. The area was starting to stink of the putrid smell of burning flesh stung their nostrils.

" Reload all your weapons and get ready for the next round," Phoenix ordered, loading another shell into his grenade launcher. Dalton grunted at him as he refilled his shotgun with more shells.

" Hey, what's that sound?" Max asked.

" We don't have time for nonsense, Max," Phoenix barked.

" Serious! What the heck is that clicking noise I hear?" Max cried.

Everyone paused for a second. It was not really audible, but there was a faint clicking sound neither the less. They looked around their surroundings, wondering where the sound is coming from.

" Over here!" Rick exclaimed, the first to discover the source. All of them spun around.

" Oh, shit! Iris!" Phoenix yelled running back towards the train.

---

Mercury burst through a storeroom, looking left and right. The room was in a mess, with all the bottles and cans of machinery stuff all over the place. There was a nearby desk with documents sprawled all over the place. There was a fine layer of dust covering the entire room. It looks as if nobody had maintained this place in a long time.

_It would explain the reason why there is a lack of zombies in this station._

Mercury kicked over a few bottles, looking for a switch for the place. He flicked on the switch to turn on the light, but nothing came on. Either the electric supply had been cut out or they had not bothered to replace their light bulbs. He then remembered that the rest of them had created a huge fire just outside the stations compound. The fire probably destroyed the electrical wiring in some way.

Looking quickly for an alternative, Mercury started to ransack the drawers. He spotted a torchlight, which was miraculously working. He started looking at all the cans and bottles, wondering which to take back to Iris.

He picked up a bottle and looked at the lable which said: Maxtros Fine Oil. Reading the rest of the information listed on the lable prompted him to toss the bottle aside. He picked up another that was filled with liquid that looked vaguely like cooking oil. He opened up the cap of the bottle and took a sniff, reeling back at the smell.

_Smells right to me…_

He continued his search among the mess.

_Writer's note: Yes, I know. Their escape using the train is a bit unoriginal and it's taken from the part whereJill boards the train in RE3. But they'll be staying on the train longer and there will be some action involved later..._


	17. Chapter 15: Riding Through the Storm

**Chapter 15: Riding Through the Storm**

Iris continued with her repair work on the train, peering into the engine to look at whether she had fixed it correctly or not. She was sweating profoundly now, not because it was hot, but more due to the fact that she was rushing herself. She took a look at her clothes, which were now covered in oil, grease and dust stains. The first thing she wanted, and needed, when they had the time would be a bath.

She heard a clatter behind her. " Mercury, is that you? Did you find it?" Iris asked, without looking. Nobody replied. Sensing it was not Mercury, she spun around.

She almost screamed out loud. Right behind her was a humongous, black brown spider that looked bigger than her by mass. She could see the bristles on its body tingling as it felt her presence as the creature came closer to her. The abdomen of the spider was pulsating, throbbing rhythmically as it came closer towards her, its two front legs raised upwards, baring its probably poisonous fangs at her. She felt her heart skip a beat as she saw it drool. It was not really drooling, but sticky green fluids started flowing out of its open jaws, most likely due to its sacs overloaded with poison.

" Iris!"

She could hear Phoenix cry from a distance. She gave a fleeting glance, seeing Phoenix running towards her. The spider hissed, sensing an on-coming danger of some sort, and moved towards Iris. She knew that he could not shot at this distance due to the risk of hitting her, so she knew that she had to save herself.

She pulled out the pistol she had obtained from the police station. It went of once as she pulled it out because she panicked too much and her fingers were trembling terribly. The second shot went upwards as he greasy hands made it difficult to hold the gun properly. The third shot hit it squarely on one of its hind legs, causing it to hiss in pain and jump at her.

She fired blindly as she fell to the floor, too terrified to look at the creature. One of her shots hit it in the abdomen, puncturing the throbbing body. She started screaming as she felt cold, sticky goo being splattered all over her face as she punctured the spider's body, blowing its innards out. This prompted her to fire randomly in the spider's general direction. She only stopped after she realized she had been firing an empty pistol for some time.

The spider just lay at her feet, causing her to recoil her legs at the sight of its mangled up body being so close to her. Its dead body was on its back, the legs wriggling whatever life was left in the spider as its bodily fluids started to seep out in a green mess.

However, her troubles were far from over. Small, brown baby spiders emerged from the dead body of their mother. Iris screamed, kicking her legs to push herself backwards as the spiders crawled closer to her. One came up to her leg before a powerful shoe came down hard upon it.

" Sorry, I'm late. Where the fuck is Mercury?" Phoenix apologized, stomping hard upon the remaining spiders.

" Don't blame him. I asked him to go and find some engine oil for the train," Iris said.

" Phoenix, duck!" Max's voiced yelled from afar.

Phoenix turned around to look what Max was yelling at. Three more spiders were now coming towards them. At about the same time, Iris saw Max raise his rifle and took aim. A burst came out from his grenade launcher and flew in a perfect arc towards the spiders. Iris did not see it make contact with the spiders. Phoenix had already thrown himself on her and pinned her on the ground.

---

Mercury just turned around the corner when an explosion occurred in front of him. He yelled in shock, falling down from the blast, wondering what had happened. There was a bad stench in the air, worse than rotten eggs. Upon closer inspection as he got up, he realized it was a grenade blast. He wondered who had fired it.

" Max, were you trying to kill us?!" Phoenix could be heard roaring from a short distance away.

_That answers my question._

Mercury emerged just around the corner as Max, Kimmy, Dalton and the two kids ran up back to the train. Phoenix helped Iris to her feet, who was visibly shaking. Mercury spotted a large, dead spider next to her and he could guess what happened. Max skidded to a halt, suddenly seeing Mercury emerge from the side where he had just fired a grenade.

" Mercury, are you alright? I didn't know you were around the corner!" Max exclaimed.

" Apart from being slightly charred, I'm fine," Mercury said. He walked over to Iris and passed her two bottles. " Here, I hope these will work fine."

" Yes, I think so…Everyone get on board! We are ready to move," she declared, taking the two bottles and starting to empty the contents into the train's engine. Everyone climbed on board quickly, hoping that the train would start.

" Quickly…" Dalton cried, jumping around nervously. The zombies were now quickly approaching the train as they were not holding them back anymore.

" Let's try this," Mercury said. He pulled out several, small square cans from his pockets and stuck them together, forming a large sticky bundle.

" Max, your lighter," Mercury demanded. Max quickly tossed him his lighter.

" What the heck is that?" Dalton asked as Mercury lighted the tip of the weird bundle he had produced, which started to burn on the outside. Jumping out of the train, he lobbed the bundle forward, toward the zombie crowd. It bounced several times before settling down on the ground a few feet in front of the zombies.

" If that was a bomb, it was bloody hell a lousy one," Kimmy scolded, still spiteful towards Mercury.

" No doubt, but the zombies seem to be backing away," Rick exclaimed.

He was right. The burning bundle seemed to act as a sort of barrier towards the zombies. Instead of moving forward, they were now moving back, away from them. Their movements seem puzzling.

" Zombies noses still work, and some substances can keep them away," Mercury replied, grinning.

" No shit! This thing would even keep me away!" Max gagged, covering his mouth with his hands as thick, nauseous fumes started to waft all around them. Iris tossed the bottles she used to fill the engine away and both she and Phoenix hopped up onto the train.

" I pray to God this actually works…" Dalton said.

" Yeah, before I puke all over the place…" Max groaned, dropping to his knees and gagging slightly from the 'smoke bomb' Mercury threw.

Phoenix went up to the driver's compartment and yanked a few levers. Nothing happened. He pushed a red switch by the side of the control panel. A loud groan could be heard, coming from the engine, but nothing further. Getting frustrated, he gave the driver panel a great, big kick. Almost everyone gave a yelp of surprise as the train jolted forward, then slowing down to move in a slow pace.

Almost everyone gave a cry of joy, except for Phoenix and Vanessa. Max jumped and hugged Dalton, who was unimpressed by his behavior. Mercury was laughing out hard for no apparent reason. Iris could only see the antics of the rest of them and smile to herself.

" Max, you're bleeding!" Kimmy cried, cutting their joy short.

" Am I?" Max asked, with a bemused look on his face.

Dark red blood was dripping from the top left pocket of Max's vest, staining the left side of his vest in red. He looked extremely surprised to see the blood there.

" Seriously, you are bleeding!" Kimmy cried, moving up to him to check his wound.

" Whoa! Wait a second! I'm not wounded, seriously!" Max replied.

The rest of the watched in surprise as Max slowly opened the top left pocket of his vest and reached inside with his fingers. He drew out two vials, both of them covered with blood and which distinctively contained blood. Digging his fingers deeper, he drew out a triangle-shaped metal piece along with several pieces of glass from what looked like broken vials.

" Must have hit the guy before he died. I don't remember being hit by shrapnel," Max commented.

" Blood samples?" Phoenix mused, taking a vial and getting a good look at it. Phoenix deduced that that blood was taken from the veins from its colour, unless zombification somehow changes blood colour.

" Troubling news indeed…confirms what I suspected," Mercury mused.

" And what the heck did you suspect?" Kimmy asked, a little too harshly. Max eyed her warily, hoping she would not throw another fit.

" As I said earlier, the government having a hand in Umbrella's agendas. Those blood samples are definitely taken from people who have turned into zombies. Now, why in the world is the government interested in such samples? If they wanted the original T virus, Umbrella has used it to cause one disaster too many, thus it is obtainable somewhere else. Umbrella only knows about the TS virus, and if so, this proves they have a hand in the U.S. government or they have an insider with some substantial amount of power working inside the White House. If not, how do you explain the Navy Seals appearing on this island?" Mercury replied.

" How'd you know this is zombie fluids?" Max asked.

" It looks diseased, definitely not normal under medical standards. There are obvious signs of coagulation already taking place and under the light, there are noticeable specks of various colours ranging from purple to green," Iris replied.

Everyone else turned to her as she gave her explanation. " You seem well versed in medicine," Kimmy replied.

" Train mechanics and medicine, what a great mix," Dalton chuckled. Iris blushed slightly at the comment.

" Well, it's not much. I'm more of an info freak. I pick up whatever nonsensical information I come across," Iris said, grinning sheepishly.

" This still doesn't make sense. If the U.S. government is working with Umbrella to some degree, why are they not bothered to hide the fact that they are here, using their men?" Kimmy demanded.

" I can think of two reasons: One, they came here in a hurry. Since virus will activate itself in its host in about 24 hours, they would need to arrive quickly to retrieve whatever sample there is left of the virus, since I stated that it will degenerate once it infects the host. This is very unlikely, and for them to act like this is not possible. Thus, this leads to another far more sinister prospect…" Mercury said, pausing for a while. Phoenix wondered if it was for some dramatic effect or it was due to his lack of breath.

" The U.S. government isn't going to allow any survivors to leave this island," Mercury said in a deadpan manner. There was a moment of silence throughout the carriage, except for the squeaking noises the wheels were making.

" You can't be serious…" Max replied, though he was not convinced of his words.

" Take it this way: You mentioned you were former mercenaries from Umbrella. After you escaped from Raccoon city, you were being pursued by Umbrella operatives, even though you would be of an insignificant threat to them…"

" How did you know this…?"

" Your friend Phoenix had explained it to me earlier. How I got it is of no importance now. The fact is that Umbrella wanted to minimize as much as possible the number of people who bore witness to the tragedy that happened there. A sizable number of people escaped however, but it did not make much of a difference to Umbrella. Now, knowing very well that using Navy Seals will tell that the U.S. government is involved with Umbrella's activities, do you think that they would let you walk off like that? Not to mention, according to what Phoenix has told me, it seems like they have sanctioned off this island, cutting any means of transport in and out by air?" Mercury asked. Max heard Kimmy give an almost inaudible grunt when Mercury mentioned the word 'tragedy'.

" The government won't do that…"

" The government is like Umbrella, and if they were bold enough to try to kill you off then, I don't think it would make any difference," Mercury replied.

" Alright, this is beside the point, but you said this virus disintegrates once it enters the body. If so, then aren't they wasting their time trying to salvage something that is already lost?" Iris asked.

" You need to know that Umbrella had started its main work way back during the 50s, even before the company was founded, and after decades they could only manage one virus, the T virus, which they even deem ineffective once. Umbrella is as persistent as hell, and even if there is no chance of doing it they won't stop trying."

Max was suddenly reminded of his days in Umbrella when he was sent into Raccoon city. The city was lost, yet thy sent in a band of mercenaries to do the impossible. Mercury made sense in that way.

" If that is so, then how the hell are we supposed to get off this fucking island?" Dalton asked.

This created a new set of problems. If the U.S. government was not letting anything go in or out of the island, there would be no point in heading to the 1st island where the boats and planes are, since they will be shot anyway.

" We hope for the best," Mercury replied.

" Hey, what's that suppose to mean?" Dalton asked.

" He means that we would have to adapt to the circumstances, no matter what they are," Phoenix said commandingly. Everyone turned to look at him.

" Cutting off air traffic doesn't mean that they would be shooting missiles at every passing helicopter. Air traffic can be controlled by just preventing any flights at nearby airports from reaching Specter Island. The U.S. government cannot send battleships and cruisers to come surround the island as they cordon it off to search for a fucking virus. Too much military movement would cause suspicions and action will definitely be taken. You said Umbrella has a hand in the government. It probably has, but this doesn't apply to everyone in the White House," Phoenix said.

" So, what are you saying?"

" We can still get off this island. This search by the Navy Seals is probably done secretly as the public is kept unaware on what is going on. News will probably get out soon, but the damage would have been done anyway. We can still get off. We probably need a hell lot of luck," Phoenix continued. His speech seemed to give them a glimmer of hope. It was not much. But at least it was something.

" Yes, you might be right. Sorry, I'm getting too worried over nothing…" Mercury apologized.

" Hmph…" Kimmy grunted, turning her back on the rest of them and heading to the second compartment of the train. Max winced slightly as she slammed the door hard.

" I take it she still hates me," Mercury said, grinning somehow.

" No doubt…" Max mused.

" Why don't you go keep her company?" Phoenix suggested.

" What for?"

" Safety precautions. Right now we are in the middle of a very bad mess. It is best to stay in groups. If she wants to sulk, at least she should sulk with some company. There may be more than zombies that we are going to face. Sticking together would increase our chances of survival," Phoenix said.

Max wondered if he was hearing things properly.

" Basic mercenary training…have you forgotten it already? Besides, she needs some company. You are the best to be a punching bag," Phoenix said, helping himself to a seat at a corner of the driver's compartment.

Max thought it made sense in a way. " If you say so…" he said, shrugging his shoulders as he walked to the rear end carriage.

---

Kimmy spun around savagely as she heard the door of the carriage open. Max dropped his rifle to the side and raised his arms up, signaling he did not want any trouble. Seeing that, she continued to pace around the crate filled train.

" You still seem pissed," Max said, starting the conversation.

" Of course, I'm pissed. How can I not be pissed?" Kimmy griped. Max knew the best way for a person to calm down is for them to vent out their frustration through words, so he patiently waited for her to continue.

" I lost my brother over all this mess Umbrella has made. How can I not be pissed? Seeing Mercury just makes me want to strangle him even further. And furthermore, we are stuck in this freaking mess that has blown out of proportion!" Kimmy fumed.

Max still kept quiet.

" I lost my last family member already, and now I've just lost my friends! Am I not supposed to be angry?! People I love are dead!" she yelled. Tears were forming again in her eyes.

Max waited for a while, then calmly and calculatingly, he said " Are you really angry at Umbrella, or are you just angry at Mercury?"

" What the fuck…"

" Answer the question, Kimmy. You are not being true to yourself," Max warned.

Kimmy stared at him for a while with a confused look in her eyes.

" I think you have really fallen into Umbrella's trap. True, you dislike them, but are you really venting your anger on them…or just at one particular person?" Max asked. Kimmy did not answer.

" Simple really: I think Mercury is merely used as a scapegoat here. You seem to hate him more in general than you hate Umbrella. In my opinion, he seems harmless, really. Is he the only one responsible for the Raccoon city incident? Umbrella is using a nice technique in diverting the public's hate towards them," Max replied. Kimmy still did not say anything.

" You don't seem to hate me that much, even though I was formerly from Umbrella," Max said, chuckling.

" You are different…" Kimmy protested.

" How so?" Max asked. " Just because I was just their mercenary and had no information about what the heck they did?"

" What the heck is wrong with you? You make it sound as if I'm doing something wrong!" Kimmy scowled.

" Well, maybe you are. Anyway, if we are going to talk, let's do it sitting down. We've been running around like chickens the whole day and my legs are tired," Max said, pulling a crate aside and sitting on it.

" What was your reason in joining Umbrella as a mercenary anyway?" Kimmy asked.

" Well, mainly due to my fascination in weapons, especially guns, and getting a good dose of action. Call me typical, but I guess I was not suited to get a degree and sit down for a normal life. I guess maybe I felt bored in my enclosed environment, where my parents insist on the importance of science. They solve problems, yes, but I'm not the person to want to solve them," Max replied.

" And you accepted a post in Umbrella?" Kimmy asked, sitting down on the crate, right next to him.

" Well, initially, I had my doubts about a pharmaceutical company hiring mercenaries. I mean, what the heck does a pharmaceutical company need mercenaries for? Shoot down illegal drug peddlers?"

Kimmy laughed.

" However, I guess they paid us well, in a way. I was basically penniless when I ran away from home, and the only relative I ever talk to, my sister, had not started working yet, so it was impossible to have her support me. Guess you can say that I was desperate and I just took whatever that came by," Max replied.

" Did you ever kill anyone…anyone living?" Kimmy asked. Max frowned slightly, thinking.

" Yes…in a way of course, part of the job requirement…but besides that, I've been shooting the shit out of zombies," Max replied.

" Enough about me talking here! How about you?" Max suddenly exclaimed, obviously changing the topic.

" Me?"

" Yeah, you study art. Art as in…painting kind of art?"

" Something like that."

" How'd you get interested in art?"

" It's a way of expressing one's feelings, and it helps me a lot. This is probably due to all the frustration I get with my life. Must have started after I lost my brother. I had a lot of mixed feelings, you know: anger, frustration, sadness, angst. Guess it was a good way to release my frustration on things," Kimmy replied.

" Emo stuff, huh? I understand. So, do you paint with a kitchen knife or a cleaver?" Max joked.

" It's not like that," Kimmy retorted, punching him playfully on his shoulder. Max gave a soft groan as his shoulder stung as she hit him. Her earlier punches on his had turned into bruises and he only realized the extent of the damage he had done.

" Oh…gee, sorry for that…" Kimmy said, seeing Max wincing in pain. Max thought it was strange that he did not felt this pain earlier.

Kimmy pressed her palm on Max and started rubbing it to soothe his bruise. Max gave a loud yelp as pressed the bruise too hard, but he tried not to complain too much. Kimmy continued to massage his aching spot when he stopped whining in pain.

" You seem to have violent tendencies, do you know that?" Max ventured, only feel an increase in pressure being applied to his shoulder, making him wince again.

Kimmy wondered to herself if there was something going on in between them. Max was rather likeable, no doubt he was not very bright upstairs, but ever since she met him again on that fateful day in the airport, see felt there was more going on between them than she had hoped for. She wondered if she was just desperate for some company. She decided to venture further, deciding it would not hurt one bit.

" Ever had a girlfriend?"

The question made Max jump slightly, as he gave her a weird look. His eyes look shiftily around, trying to avoid her gaze. " What kind of question is that?" he asked.

" Don't you understand English?" Kimmy asked.

Max kept quiet for a while, not making a sound. There was a low rumbling sound that was coming from the train's wheels now. The first compartment where the rest of the survivors were was relatively quiet, having no signs of activity.

" I'll make a very bad boyfriend, if that is what you meant," Max said at last.

" I didn't…"  
" No you didn't, because girls never talk straight when it comes to love. I prefer if they were more straightforward, so us dumb guys don't need to wreck our brains so much to figure out what the heck you all are implying. And, for the sake of your question: no, mainly because I haven't met anyone who is attractive like you…strength wise," Max answered.

" Well, I…" Kimmy stammered as she started to blush.

The door of the compartment and both of them turned to look at who had entered the compartment. Rick stood by the doorway with Vanessa behind him as he gave them a very roguish smile seeing Kimmy's hand on Max's shoulder.

" It's not what you think," Kimmy suddenly blurted out, seeing Rick looking at them like that.

" Oh, it doesn't matter what I think," Rick answered, sniggering. " Anyway, the rest of them are breaking the food crates open and stuffing themselves. So, I'm here to invite you two to join us, with the condition set by everyone else that you don't throw a fit and start pounding people, Mercury, especially." With that, he walked off, leaving the door open.

" Well, Rick sure knows how to spoil a romantic mood. Anyway, I'm hungry, and I think I'll need to fill up my stomach," Max said, standing up. He held his hand out to Kimmy before asking " Coming?"

Kimmy hesitated, but only for a while.


	18. Chapter 16: Unwanted Travelers

**Chapter 16: Unwanted Travelers**

Max saw that the rest of them had opened up three crates: two of them containing chocolate bars and canned food and the other one containing wine bottles. Several empty cans and chocolate wrappers were strewn all over the carriage's compartment. A lone bottle of wine stood in the middle of the compartment, half finished.

" Is drinking that suitable?" Max asked, pointing towards the wine bottle.

" We couldn't find any other drinking sources, so we had to make do with this," Phoenix said. A stained combat knife that lay by his side indicated he had used it to open up all the cans. Dalton grabbed the wine bottle and took a sip before he continued to finish his can of baked beans.

" This sucks. I have a low tolerance to alcohol," Max said, taking up a bar of chocolate and passing it to Kimmy before helping himself to one. Phoenix arched his eyebrows as he did so.

" Well, its quite safe to get drunk now…" Dalton mumbled with his mouth full.

" On the contrary, it will still be dangerous until and when we leave the island. You just don't have to drink too much then," Phoenix replied. Max shrugged his shoulders.

" I've been thinking: do any of you know how to fly a helicopter or a plane?" Iris asked.

" Why do you ask?" Mercury asked her back.

" Well, we can't escape by air then, if none of you can fly a plane or a helicopter," she said. Max did not want to complain about it, but her statement had lowered their slightly joyous mood.

" Hey, don't look at me! I don't even have my driver's license yet, let alone one for a helicopter. Mercury here also doesn't have a license. He prefers to take buses, for whatever reason I don't know," Dalton said, answering on Mercury's behalf.

" I hate heights, and Rick and Vanessa are only kids," Max replied.

" I'm only a university student," Kimmy sighed.

" I dislike heights as well," Phoenix said, taking a sip of wine.

" Okay, so flights out of the island are out of the question. So, we can escape by sea, can't we?" Dalton asked.

" You know I've been thinking: If there were no available boats, how are we going to get off? We would need at least a yacht, since this island is in the middle of nowhere. We will need a boat large enough to travel to another island…the closest would be Hawaii, wouldn't it?" Iris suggested.

" Why are we discussing this? It is as though you are telling us that we are doom to die already," Dalton sighed.

" No, but I'm just stating that we would might need another alternative to get off this island," Iris reinforced her statement.

" Well, if it will help calm your nerves slightly, my sister is doing her best to pick us up," Max said.

" What?"

" I called her up earlier, just as the outbreak started. She's a coastguard helicopter pilot. She might be able to pick us up," Max said.

" Do you realize that the government had issued an aerial lockdown on vehicles going in and out of Specter Island?" Phoenix asked.

" I was not aware of that when I gave her a call, but she might be able to pull a few strings. Look, I'm not saying that she can really get us out, but our courses out of this island is limited and is all down to luck. We can just hope for the best, I guess," Max said. Phoenix accepted the reply, turning back to his meal.

" Anyway, I'm dead tired. I'll be taking a nap for a while. Do make sure at least one of you is keeping watch," Phoenix said, getting up and moving towards the side of the compartment. Propping his rifle by his side, he comfortably sat down and leaned on a wooden crate, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

" I guess it is best that we all get some rest," Mercury concluded. He did not need to say it. Kimmy had already dozed off in the middle of their conversation, the unfinished chocolate lying limp in her hands as her head was tilted to one side. Rick was running off to find a suitable spot for his sister and him to sleep. Iris gave a big yawn.

" Who wants to stay up?" Mercury asked.

" I will. I'm not sleepy…yet," Max replied.

" Fine by me," Mercury said, lying on the floor. He curled up into a fetal position and started snoring softly.

" Why does he wear those weird goggles of his?" Max asked Dalton, who had not fallen asleep.

" He dislikes wearing glasses since they usually fall off his face once in a while. I guess he likes corrective goggles since they're much hardier that way. He has been wearing it for as long as I could remember. As for why he tints them dark, I assume he's just trying to look cool," Dalton replied. Max chuckled.

" So, how did you end up with this guy?" Max asked.

" What's that suppose to mean?" Dalton asked, narrowing his eyes.

" You seem to know him pretty well. What's your relationship with him?" Max asked, leaning against a crate and stretching his legs.

Dalton looked lost for a minute, before collecting himself and answering " Well, I don't know my birth parents, since they left me at an orphanage. As usual, to people who don't have parents, I got into some bad company and got involved with a lot of things like drugs and vice and all that crap. Anyway, Mercury took me in one day when I tried to mug him."

Max gave loud burst of laughter, making Phoenix grunt in his sleep.

" Well, he took me in and gave me a home. I was pretty thankful for that, so I stuck around him ever since. I came here mainly to break him out of jail. Guess this freaking outbreak worked in my favour."

" How old are you?" Max asked.

" I'm 18 this year. Why?"

" So, you still are a kid," Max said, rubbing his chin.

" You don't look like an adult to me!" Dalton shot back angrily.

" Depends on how you look at it. I'm 20, and in some countries I'm still considered a kid, in a way," Max replied sheepishly, scratching his head. Dalton pouted.

"Mercury doesn't sound like a guy who can work for Umbrella. He seems too nice in my opinion. Why does he work for Umbrella then?" Max asked.

" You are right in a sense. He's not like the rest of them. But, that question is best for him to answer," Dalton said. " Since you are keeping awake, I'm going to sleep. Stay awake, alright?"

Dalton turned around and slept on the floor. Max sighed and looked around at the rest of his companions. Rick had found a cozy spot at the corner of the carriage and with a mat he found from somewhere, both him and his sister where curled up at the corner. Phoenix and Iris were sleeping opposite each other near the driver's compartment. Kimmy was sprawled unceremoniously on the middle of the carriage.

Max got up and slowly picked her up by her arms and slowly pulled her aside to place her in a much more comfortable position. Kimmy mumbled something in her sleep and moved slightly, but nothing more. Propping her up by the side, Max sat diligently on the crate, with his rifle in his hands, keeping watch over the area. Looking out the front view window, he saw that the train was going over a bridge. He felt weird as he did not remember seeing any railroad tracks on his way here coming to Professor Mason's mansion.

Several feet away, Mercury lay down quietly, listening to the earlier conversation.

---

Rachael started twiddling her fingers nervously as she sat quietly in her seat in the airplane. She would be touching down in Hawaii, the closest inhabited island to Specter Island, in about 15 minutes. She had not been able to call Max back as she was in an airplane, but she was getting more worried by the minute. Max had not even replied after sending a message for help.

" Hey, are you alright?" Jack asked, holding her hand. It was sweaty and cold.

" Well…yes…no…not really," Rachael stammered.

" Don't worry, it's alright…"

" How can it be alright? Until he gets off that island, it will never be alright," Rachael moaned, clasping her hands to her face. Jack felt lost for words, returning his gaze to the ceiling.

Rachael had immediately gotten the fastest ticket she could find to Hawaii after she had gotten the message, rushing the entire way to the airport. Jack had insisted he come along, although he was not sure what he could do.

" Hey, Jack…"

" Yes?"

" Thanks for coming…"

" Nothing to it, really…the least I can do…"

They kept silent for a while.

" How am I supposed to help him?" Rachael asked.

" Well, since you are a helicopter pilot, I guess we could steal a helicopter and commandeer it to the island…no, wait, this a bit too crazy," Jack mused.

" 'Attention, passengers! We will be arriving at Honolulu International Airport in about 10 minute's time…'"

" Don't worry, we will think of something," Jack assured Rachael.

---

Max checked through their inventories just to keep him preoccupied while keeping watch. He had one more grenade in his grenade launcher, plus three other grenades taken from Vanessa and the dead Navy Seal earlier. He was down to three more magazine clips for his rifle. A quick check in Rick's bag showed him that it contained about a total of 10 pistol clips, 30 shotgun shells and several magnum bullets. He hoped that they could reach the 1st island without trouble so they would not run out of ammunition to fend off the zombies too soon.

He had a couple of flares, some rope, a combat knife, two black devices that looked like tracking devices, a small medical pack filled with first aid material just about enough for one person and a torchlight. Other items that seem out of place were syringes, empty vials, pieces of what looked like surgical equipment, a small broken piece of electronic equipment that looked more at home in a computer lab than on a person and other unknown items.

The more Max looked at the items, the more he felt that Mercury's words made sense. The Navy Seals seemed to be collecting samples of zombies with all these equipment. Max decided he did not want to think about it too much.

He got up and walked over to Phoenix. Quietly, he slipped out the radio that was attached to his vest. Going back to his original seat, he started fiddling with his own radio, hoping to match the frequencies together so they would be able to use it to communicate with one another.

Phoenix's radio crackled slightly with fuzzy static noises. Max tried testing the radio, speaking into it. He could hear his voice at the other end of the radio. Satisfied, he placed them both aside.

As he continued checking through all their weapons, he heard someone stir. Rick got up from his sleep. Seeing Max awake with weapons sprawled all over him, he got up and walked next to Max.

" Can't sleep?" Max asked.

" Well, not really…I'm just not that tired," Rick replied.

" Well, you can keep me company then," Max said. Rick grinned at him.

" How long have I been sleeping?" Rick asked.

" About 2 hours already. Looks like currently we are in the middle of the 2nd island. We will arrive at the 1st island after crossing one more bridge. If everything goes well, then we will make it there before nightfall," Max concluded. They had been running around the island for several hours since noon. The sky was starting to darken as the sun started to set. Max made a guess that it was about somewhere between 5 to 6 in the evening.

" Hey, Max…"

" Yeah?"

" About my grandpa…"  
Max did not like the direction the conversation was going. He tried not to look at Rick as he mindlessly continued to load a fully loaded magazine into a handgun.

" He's dead, isn't he?" Rick asked.

" I didn't say that!" Max sputtered.

" Please, I'm not as stupid as you think. I'm not sure if he showed the symptoms, but he was sick since yesterday. It's probably just speculation, but I think he has turned into a zombie," Rick replied.

" I wouldn't know…" Max started to say.

" Oh, I'm sure you would. You entered my house. My grandpa doesn't drive, and so does the butler of ours. Our driver called in sick yesterday, and it has made me think about whether he had been infected the day before, giving reason to be sick. So, he has no transport out of the house. Besides, you didn't carry your revolver he gave you with us during the trip to the cinema, and you had it when you came back, so you definitely did enter the mansion. This is just a wild speculation, but when you used your revolver to save us, apparently there was one bullet missing from the 6 slots. It's just a wild guess, I know, but I think I know what you used that bullet on," Rick replied calmly.

" You seem smarter than your age," Max could only comment.

" That's what a lot of people say," Rick replied grinning.

" Look, I'm sorry I…"

" Don't say it, Maxie. You meant it for the best. When you lied to us earlier about it, I didn't make any comment about it because it might cause an alarm for my sister," Rick said, looking behind him. His sister still lay asleep in her makeshift bed.

" What are we going to tell her when the time comes?" Max asked.

" Not we, me. You sound like our guardian or something," Rick retorted.

Max gave a low chuckle. " Yeah, maybe I am…" he laughed.

" Anyway, I've decided to tell you on something important. It's about my family mainly, and it also regards the reason why my grandpa hired you," Rick said.

Max suddenly looked at Rick, his eyes wide-eyed with shock. He seemed lost for words. " Wait…what…your grandpa had another reason to hire me?"

" Not technically a reason, but I can guess. He works, or used to work, for Umbrella," Rick said, dropping the bomb.

Max stared at Rick with his mouth wide with shock. It would have been hilarious if it was not for their precarious situation. Rick looked directly at Max, with a slightly amused face.

" This is new to me…" Max cried.

" Not really, it's just that you have an extremely bad memory," Phoenix voice replied. Max looked behind him to see Phoenix getting up and shaking off the grogginess of his sleep.

" Wait a second, Phoenix…you know him?" Max cried.

Phoenix didn't bother to look at Max. His attention was turned to Rick. " You said your name was Rick Mason, correct? So, your grandpa's name is Prof. Marson Mason, am I not correct?"

" Yes…" Rick said, shaking his head in acknowledgement.

" What the heck is going on here?" Max asked, looking at the both of them, obviously confused.

" Max, when you joined Umbrella as a mercenary, the man in-charge of hiring you was Prof. Mason," Phoenix answered.

" What? Really? I don't remember…but I guess it answers the question why he knows me when he wanted to hire me," Max replied.

" I guess so…" Phoenix said, shrugging his shoulders. " Rick, you were about to tell us about your uncle and his reason for hiring Max. What do you have to say about it?"

" I didn't know much about my family," Rick started " Well, we were orphan for as long as I could remember. We never really saw our parents, but I do slightly remember seeing them when I was young. But technically, we were only orphans only about three years ago. Our parents were still alive back then, but they had placed us under the care of my grandpa. We were told that they had died a long time ago, but it was all a lie."

" Why was that?" Phoenix asked.

" Protection from Umbrella," Rick replied. Max and Phoenix looked at each other.

" My parents were researchers working for Umbrella. They had a hand in the perfection of the T virus Mercury mentioned. They were stationed at a place somewhere near Raccoon city. I think it was called Spencer Estate, or something like that. However, there was an outbreak in the mansion there, and all the scientists died. Several members of the S.T.A.R.S., Special Tactics and Rescue Service, who were deployed at the estate to investigate the outbreak had given a report on the matter, but it somehow fell on deaf ears."

" Grandpa Mason held some kind of a high post in the Umbrella Company. I'm not sure what, but it has something to do with research and security, or something like that."

" Yes, that explains why he was in-charge of hiring us," Phoenix said, folding his arms and nodding his head.

" Well, I didn't know about all this stuff till I entered his study one day. Being the curious kid that I am, I started reading about all this and all the related articles about Umbrella. Grandpa kept a large stock on Umbrella, from reports, files, documents, statistics and all that. There were a lot of newspaper clippings, and I got to put the pieces together. There was also a list of people being hired by him once. Your name was on it, Max, and so was yours, um…Mr. Phoenix, right?"

" Just call me Phoenix…" Phoenix grunted.

" So, why did your grandpa hire me?" Max questioned.

" He was expecting this to happen," Rick replied.

" Hell…?!" Max exclaimed.

" Wait a second. Let me rephrase that: He expected something big to happen. Maybe he had an idea that something like this would happen, I wouldn't know. But according to some reports I've read, there were stuff listed about something like a new virus…"

" The TS…" Max moaned.

" It didn't say, but we can speculate about it…"

" If he knew something like this would happen, why didn't he leave?" Phoenix questioned.

" That's an interesting thought. Either he was unable to or he had something else to do here. Either way, he didn't leave, and we got stuck in this mess," Rick said.

" So, where the hell do I come in?" Max asked.

" Interesting thing is, I think he hired you because you could help us," Rick answered.

" What kind of a stupid reason is that?"

" Well, you've kept my ass safe from harm so far…and my sister's," Rick replied.

" He thinks that I would help you all out if trouble arises? What if I decided not to?"

" He had his reasons, I guess. But don't ask me to answer them, I wouldn't know…" Rick said, shrugging his shoulders.

" He's one heck of a kid," Phoenix said.

" What do you mean by that?" Max asked.

" Well, for a kid his age, he seems to be able to absorb all this problems without even flinching. He doesn't seem to panic upon seeing zombies and he can talk about Umbrella's politics with deadly calm. Seriously, he doesn't have a mentality of a 14 year old kid," Phoenix replied. Rick just grinned broadly.

" Well, I just…what the fuck is that?" Max yelled, jumping to his feet.

Phoenix didn't turn to see what Max had seen. The whole train had just jolted slightly, and it was now moving at a slower speed, as though something had jammed the gears in its wheels.

" Shit man! I saw something drop from the top of the train in front of us!" Max yelled, running to the front of the driver's compartment and trying to look at what he had seen falling off. It was a futile attempt, as whatever the train had rolled over was probably crushed by the wheels and causing the train to slow down.

" What's wrong?" Kimmy asked, awoken by all the noise and commotion.

" Get up! Get up! Something is wrong here!" Max said, shaking Mercury violently.

" Huh? What? What's going on?" Mercury asked after being rudely awakened, confused with his surroundings.

" What's that noise?" Phoenix asked, raising his hands up to ensure nobody makes any noise.

Everyone had already wakened up, and was straining their ears to hear what Phoenix had heard. There was a soft clicking sound, like metal against metal, coming from the top of the train. The noise slowly moved from their compartment to the rear end carriage. From the sound, it sounded like footsteps, but definitely not from a zombie, but it was obviously not human.

" Some kind of creature has climbed on board," Phoenix concluded, cocking his rifle. " Mercury, do you know what is it?"

Mercury had suddenly gone white in his face, scaring Max, who was still kneeling next to him. He clambered quickly to his feet, knocking Max aside as he picked up his shotgun.

" Hunters…Hunters are on board…" he moaned.


	19. Interlude 2: Facetoface

**Second Interlude: Face-to-Face**

The President looked up from his desk as he heard a soft but firm knock on his office door. Looking up from the stack of papers, he said " Yes, come in."

The door swung open and Vice-President Graham walked in, carrying a yellow file in his hands. He smiled as he said " I hope you aren't too busy, because I need to have a word with you."

" Please, Graham, can we discuss this tomorrow?" The President asked wearily.

" It's important," Vice-President Graham replied, with an odd finality in his tone. The President frowned, wondering what was so important for Graham to present to him. With a wave of his hand he motioned Vice-President Graham to enter.

He walked in and opened the file he was carrying, placing it in front of the President, wanting him to read it. Slowly, the President leaned forward and picked up the file, taking out the contents. However, before he had even seen what the contents were, Graham's voice cut in icily, " What are your dealings with Umbrella?"

The President shoved the papers back in his file, not bothering to read its contents. He was not surprised that Vice-President Graham had found out. After all, it was just a matter of time.

" You have been speaking with Umbrella affiliates for sometime now, including last night. What have you been doing with them?" Graham demanded. The President did not flinch.

" You issued some order to mobilize a sizeable number of Navy Seals last night. There is a lockdown on Specter Island, and you ordered it secretly. Umbrella asked you to do so, didn't they? Why are you following their orders? What is in it for you? What are you thinking?" Vice-President Graham demanded.

" I'm thinking that you need to leave," The President calmly said.

" What?"

" I'm sure you understand plain English. You're dismissed," The President said with a wave of his hand.

" Wait, I must protest…" Vice-President Graham started.

" You protest?! I protest! And I order you to leave!" The President bellowed, spit flying from his mouth. His finger pointed firmly to the door, he continued " Get out. I will not answer any of your questions anymore."

His Vice-President stared incredulously at him. After 10 years working with this man, he now felt unrecognizable, looking so much alien to him. Like a dejected dog, Graham turned around and walked out the Oval Office.

---

Walking down the corridors of the White house, Graham quickly dialed a number on his cell phone. He only needed to wait for two rings before the receiver picked it up on the other end.

" Mr. Graham, to what do I owe you the honour?" a fatherly voice asked.

" General, I have an emergency. We need to talk, now!" Vice-President Graham demanded, talking long strides down the corridor.

There was a pause on the other end, the receiver somehow feeling something ominous going on about him. After what seemed like a minute, the receiver replied " I understand. Meet me in my office. I'll be there in 30 minutes."

" Thank you."


	20. Chapter 17: Breakaway

**Chapter 17: Breakaway**

The look on Mercury's face got everyone worried. Max and Phoenix scrambled to cock their rifles and aimed it to the roof of the carriage. The clicking sound of footsteps was getting fainter and fainter as it moved to the last carriage.

" Hunter? What the heck is a Hunter?" Max asked, his eyes looking all around.

" Bio-organic weapons of Umbrella," Mercury sputtered.

" Can you be more specific?" Phoenix asked.

" The viruses Umbrella makes will automatically turn people into zombies, but using live people and with the help of experiments in a laboratory, Umbrella's scientists are able to produce advance killing organisms. Hunters can outrun humans, are specially adapted to scale areas with absolute ease and have a lust for hunting down people, human or undead. Technically, they are bio-organic weapons for Umbrella, B.O.W. as we call them. Since they are originally made from humans, they still retain some of our intellect," Mercury quickly explained. Everyone looked worriedly at him.

" Made from humans? Then, how did they get here?" Dalton asked.

" Strycorps…" Phoenix answered.

It made sense in a way. If Strycorps industries are affiliated to Umbrella, they probably had a lab somewhere where they were experimenting and producing hunters. The outbreak gave them a chance to break free from their containment centers.

" You guys wait here. Max, let's check this out," Phoenix said.

" Hang on!" Mercury exclaimed, stopping Phoenix by holding on to his vest. " Hunters get their name because hunting is what they do best. These creatures are not zombies. They are more like monsters with human intellect and tiger instincts. Trust me, they can outrun you anytime. If it moves, just fire."

" Thanks for the advice, Mercury. Max and I can handle ourselves pretty well. We'll keep your advice in mind. Come on, Max," Phoenix said, motioning Max to move along to the back.

Max picked up both their radios and gave Phoenix his. Strapping back their radios to their vests, Phoenix walked up to the sliding door and pulled it apart. Calmly, he entered the second carriage with Max close behind. The door slid back to its place after both of them entered, closing with a resounding click.

" You still look worried," Dalton said, seeing the expression on Mercury's face as both men entered the last carriage.

" You haven't seen a hunter, so you wouldn't know," Mercury said.

" Yeah, I bet you do…" Kimmy said under her breath. Rick eyed her warily. Under such a situation, it was totally unwise to make another swing at Mercury. He hoped they would not need to restrain her from going berserk, again.

Mercury walked up to Iris and took out her empty pistol from her side. Dropping the empty magazine, he loaded a fresh clip into the gun and handed it to her, saying " Take it, you'll need it." Kimmy had already taken out hers.

" I'm bad with guns," Iris said. Mercury didn't care. He stuffed the weapon on her belt.

" Then use it when it is really necessary," Mercury replied.

" Hey, can I have a gun?" Rick asked.

" Nope."

" Why not? She doesn't want to use hers, so why can't I have it?" Rick argued.

" Cause you are a kid," Mercury replied, turning around. Seeing that he was not looking, Iris took the pistol out of her belt and handed it to Rick. Kimmy saw the exchange and she just smiled and kept quiet.

She suddenly felt the hair on her neck stand as she heard the most horrible screech that would rival a banshee's.

---

Phoenix looked around the carriage, his rifle leveled and his eyes quickly scanning the carriage. He was unable to hear anymore clicking noises coming from the roof. The area seemed untouched, the crates pilled up at the sides like they last saw it.

As both of them moved forward, Phoenix started to think. This hunter was on the roof. Apparently, from the looks Mercury gave, it was a very dangerous being. However, getting it off the roof of the carriage would be a problem. He figured they would be safe if they stayed inside the carriage. There were no glass windows in both carriages, except the driver's compartment. The doors of the carriages were closed, and the hunters won't be able to pry them open.

Or so he thought.

With a sickening crack, a silver, metallic claw pierced through the side door of the carriage. Phoenix and Max looked in horror as the foot long claw pulled the door open. A large, humanoid creature leaped into the carriage, snarling menacingly at them.

The hunter was an incredibly ugly creature. It was humanoid, standing on two squat legs. Its arms were incredibly long, its sharp metallic claws dragging on the floor. Its body was black, covered with scales of a reptilian animal. Its face looked squashed, like it was crushed with a large hammer. Two steely eyes peered straight at them, its mouth agape, and its sharp teeth protruding menacingly from its jaws. The hunter gave a loud, horrible screech and launched itself at them.

Phoenix was totally taken aback by the hunter's speed. He had grossly underestimated its capabilities. Even with short squat legs, the hunter took long steps, seemingly looking like he was gliding itself just above ground level. It was originally about 12 feet apart from Phoenix, but it only took the hunter two swift steps to be within its range of attack on Phoenix.

Phoenix reacted instantly. The hunter, barely 2 feet away, leaped at Phoenix, swinging its long arm at his head, its claw obviously aiming for his neck. Phoenix dropped to his knees in an instant, feeling the claw swipe against his hair. The hunter sailed through the air and went for Max. It swung its other arm in another wide arc, hoping to hit Max. Max took a step backwards, just in time to avoid the claw touching his nose. He was, however, unable to stop the creature from colliding into him as it was sailing in mid-air at top speed.

Max gasped as he felt the hunters shoulder crash onto his chest, knocking the wind out of him. He felt his rifle clatter to the side as he was unceremoniously tossed backwards. He gave a cry of pain as he slammed hard against the wall of the carriage. Stars started to spin around his head. The hunter deftly dropped on the floor like a seasoned pro, growling as it raised its arm, the sharp claw hanging ominously over his head. Max was too dazed to react.

However, Max was not its target. It swung its claw to the left, sinking the sharp metallic end into the steel walls of the train. Phoenix, having recovered from the initial attack, took aim. Several bullets whizzed past its head as it pulled itself up the carriage's wall, before leaping at Phoenix.

Phoenix reflectively raised his rifle towards his face as the hunter launched itself to him. Phoenix felt like he was hit by a truck as the hunter collided into him. With a swift kick in mid-air, it knocked Phoenix's weapon out of his hands. Another swing of its arm hit Phoenix on his head, sending him reeling to the side. He fell back painfully upon several boxes of crates, smashing the wine bottles within, soaking him in alcohol.

As his focus came back, he saw the ugly creature slowly stalking up to him, as if savouring its would-be kill. It seemed to be drooling, as small droplets of what looked like saliva dripped out of its mouth. Desperate and without a suitable weapon, Phoenix took out his combat knife as the hunter approached him. He would have preferred a bigger knife, like the sickle which he had left in the front carriage, since the combat knife looked puny compared to the sharp metallic claws his opponent had.

Just as the hunter drew its arm back, there was a loud howl and the thunder of footsteps. Within the next second, Max had launched himself into the air and landed on the hunter's shoulders, riding on him with his legs straddled on the hunter's armpits.

" Oh no, you don't!" Max yelled. With one hand holding the hunter's neck for support, Max raised his other hand, which was holding his combat knife, and slammed it hard on the hunter's head.

Max's choice of attack was a bad one. The edge of the knife barely made a scratch as it hit the hard, leathery skin of the hunter's head. Moreover, from the echoing sound of the knife hitting the hunter's cranium, Max could guess that the monster's skull was very thick, something a mere knife would have difficulty piercing. He tried slamming his knife repeatedly over and over again but to no avail.

The hunter immediately started lashing out, shaking wildly to topple Max off its shoulders. It was then Max realized that it had no elbows. The hunter's upper arm and forearm were fused together at the elbow, forming one long appendage that could only bend at its shoulders and hands. With its limited degree of freedom of movement for its arms, the hunter opted to shake Max off than slash him with its claws.

Just as Max lost his balance and fell off the hunter, Phoenix jumped on it from behind and straddled it just like Max. Except this time, Phoenix knew what to hit as he brought his knife smashing down at a deadly speed.

Max watched in trepidation and fascination as the hunter gave a horrible, guttural cry of death as Phoenix's knife sunk deep into its eye socket. A generous amount of blood burst out of its punctured eye, spraying the wall of the carriage in red. Phoenix violently twisted the knife, willing it to sink deeper into the hunter, but it was unnecessary. The blade had been inserted deep enough to deal the deathblow. With the last of its strength, it squirmed slightly, trying to get Phoenix off its shoulders as it slumped on the floor, obviously dead.

" Hey, are you listening to me?" Phoenix suddenly yelled.

" Huh? What?" Max asked surprised. He was so taken aback by Phoenix's brutality and the agonizing scream from the hunter that he did not realize that Phoenix was talking to him.

" Close the damn door!" Phoenix yelled, pointing to the open carriage door where the hunter had entered earlier as he tried to pull out his knife from the dead monster. Max immediately leaped for the door, pulling it shut and this time bolting it. There was another horrendous howl before Max jumped back in surprise as another set of claws sunk itself into the metal door, piercing it like a knife cutting through butter.

" How many of these things are there?" Max asked. More footsteps could now be heard on top of the carriage's roof. There were some clambering noises from the sides, sounding like the hunters were scaling the sides of the train.

" More than one, which is more than enough," Phoenix said, going for his rifle.

---

" What's going on back there?" Kimmy asked.

Earlier, after hearing several gunshots, Kimmy was already ready to run in to help them, but she was stopped by Mercury. Kimmy wanted to punch him to free herself, but then a horrendous cry echoed throughout the place, which made all of them in the front carriage freeze. There had been no sound coming from the rear-end carriage since, which was very forbidding.

A sudden crash of glass brought them back to their senses. A hunter had crashed its way through the glass window at the driver's panel, snarling menacingly at them. Iris and Vanessa gave screams of terror as Mercury and Dalton leveled their shotguns at the creature. However, it was Rick who did the weirdest thing: he ran toward the creature.

" Kid, what the hell are you doing?" Dalton exclaimed, trying to catch the boy by his collar but failed.

Mercury understood at once what Rick was heading for. They had left their supplies, bags filled with equipment and ammunition right in front of the train, which was now precariously just at the feet of the hunter. Rick dove for the bags as the hunter raised its clawed hand.

Mercury and Dalton fired simultaneously at once. Rick winced as he felt the discharge of the shotguns as his hands wrapped around their luggage bags. The hunter was knocked backwards, but only temporarily. As Rick scrambled to his feet, the hunter jumped back to its feet, seemingly unharmed, protected by its thick reptilian skin. Only after Mercury and Dalton fired again did its chest burst open, spurting blood all over the place.

" Rick! Why did you do such a stupid thing?" Kimmy scolded, sounding vexed as Rick ran back to the group, unharmed.

" Oh sucks, I'm fine…" Rick replied nonchalantly.

The door of the rear carriage opened and Max and Phoenix stumbled through. They seemed to be rather exhausted, like they had finished a run. " They are all over the place. I don't know how many of them there are…" Phoenix panted heavily, rubbing what seemed like a bruise on his face. His eyes then focused on the dead hunter that was lying in the middle of the carriage and the broken driver's panel.

" This place is too exposed. I suggest we head to the back carriage," he continued.

As if right on cue, two hunters leaped into the front carriage where the first hunter had broken into.

" Now!" he screamed, raising his rifle and pulling the trigger. Dalton and Mercury followed suit, firing over and over again. Even after they were reloading their guns after pumping enough lead into the two hunters, more hunters swarmed in, two more entering the hold.

Max pushed Iris and Vanessa through to the last carriage. " Hurry up," he urged them, before turning around and helping Kimmy through. However, as soon as Kimmy went through, a loud click was heard that made Max stop in his tracks.

" What was that sound?" he mused.

" The sound of the train detaching!" Rick yelled.

Rick was right. The last carriage was now breaking away, going further and further behind as they moved along. The hunters had somehow managed to detach both carriages from each other, or nobody had maintained the train properly. Max reached out to grasp Kimmy's arm, who had flung it out in an effort to hold on. Gripping the edge of the door and leaning forwards to gain some space, Max held her hand tightly, not wanting to split them apart. However, he knew it would need to take more than a pair of hands to keep both carriages together as her grip slipped though his.

" We need to stop the train!" Max yelled, but he knew it was useless. The hunters were crowding in front of the driver's compartment, and there was no way to reach the driver's controls without dodging the hunter's dangerous claws. Phoenix, Mercury and Dalton were too occupied with all the on-coming enemies to be of any use. He looked back towards the leaving carriage. Iris and Kimmy looked at him in shock as Vanessa cried out loudly, repeating her brother's name over and over again.

Max had to make a choice, and quick. Iris was unarmed, and she was bad with weapons. Kimmy was only armed with a pistol, which would be equivalent to a pea-shooter when facing a hunter. Vanessa was just a small child. Leaving them alone would mean certain death, something Max was not comfortable with.

Taking a few steps backwards, Max launched himself forward, leaping out the open door and towards the leaving carriage. Kimmy stared wide-eyed in surprise as Max came flying their way. He hit the edge of the carriage's door, almost falling backwards onto the carriages steel wheels before Kimmy and Iris grabbed him roughly by the collar and pulled him through, all of them collapsing onto the floor.

" Why did you do that for?" Kimmy asked, breathless.

" Well, I can't leave you ladies vulnerable to these monsters," Max said smugly.

At that very instant, a hunter leaped through the open door. Max fired the last few bullets in his magazine before it finished at the hunter, hitting it several times in the head. It howled as it fell backwards, hitting the wheels of the carriage as Max loaded his last magazine into the rifle.

All of them gave a cry of surprise as the entire carriage shook violently before tilting to the right. The hunter, after falling through the door, he hit one of the wheels and jammed it up. The carriage fell on its side, off the tracks as it continued to careen off- course. Everyone in the carriage was thrown off their feet, tumbling and hitting the crates in the hold. Max could barely see through the open door, but his eyes widen in fear as he saw a red brick wall loom up in front of them.

He closed his eyes and covered the other girls the best as he can as he waited for their train to crash into the wall. The impact never came. The train skidded to a halt right at the wall, sealing off the exit.

---

Rick watched with his mouth wide-open as the rear-end carriage carrying Iris, Kimmy, Max and his sister tumbled to the right and veered off-course, almost colliding into a wall of a building. A loud shrill noise made him turn around to look at the on-goings in his carriage.

The hunter's body count was up to 4 now, but they still seem to be pouring out of nowhere. Phoenix was getting furious and tired. These hunters were heavily armoured and were more persistent and tenacious than their zombie counterparts. They needed tons of firepower to take them down, and Mercury and Dalton had emptied half their ammunition just to take down four hunters.

Phoenix saw a no-win situation when he saw one. The hunters were gaining on them, surging in faster than they could reload their guns. Even if they could kill them all the hunters, they would be left with only knives to fend off zombies. Phoenix fingered his grenade launcher that was attached to his rifle and contemplated. He made up his mind and turned to convey the message.

Mercury saw Phoenix thumb his grenade launcher and got the idea. " Bail!" he said, firing the last shot before dashing for the door. He was about to help Rick jump off when the kid, slinging all 3 bags they had brought along, leaped out boldly like he was jumping into a swimming pool and turned on his back, using the bags he was carrying to cushion his fall.

_This kid has got more guts and brains than I have in such a situation,_ Mercury thought, grinning. He leaped out of the door, landing onto the tracks hard. He lay motionless on the ground as he looked towards the carriage, seeing Dalton hesitating at the exit. Phoenix did not give him the time to make a decision. With one swift kick with his boot on Dalton's rear end, he sent the teenager flying and cursing out of the train.

Phoenix heard a movement behind him and ducked just in time. Two hunters made a leap for him, just avoiding their swings as he ducked as low as he could before hurling himself out through the door. He twisted his body and, with expert precision, aimed his weapon at the opened door of the train. There was a hiss, and then the grenade burst out of the launcher just as he hit the ground.

He was just in time to see the train go up in an enormous fireball, fueled by the old petroleum engine that the train ran on, as the burning corpses of the hunters flew in all directions, before the momentum of the fall spun him around, making him black out from the impact.

_Writer's note: The Hunters are one of my favourite enemies in the game. I just had to put them in._


	21. Chapter 18: Max's Inspiration

**Chapter 18: Max's Inspiration**

" Shit!" Max cursed. He placed his hands on the wall sealing off the carriage's door, cutting off their exit. He tried to push slightly, but he knew it would be useless.

Max now wished that their carriage had hit the wall instead of stopping right in front of it. Bashing down the wall would at least give them the chance to exit through the rubble. Now, they were stuck in the carriage with no further exit from here. Max slammed his fists on the metal walls of the carriage hard, trying to disperse his anger, getting frustrated that he was stuck in a metal box, literarily. He sighed as he sat down to think of what to do next.

" Do you think we can break out of this metal junk?" Kimmy asked, sliding her hands against the walls, which was technically the floor since their train had overturned, trying to feel if there was a crack or anything.

" Damn, this train is under such bad maintenance it can't even fall apart!" Max cried, kicking the walls of the train in frustration, stopping after his toe started to hurt.

" Maybe we can slowly pry it open…somehow…" Iris suggested.

" Well, even if there is a crack, are you expecting us to pry open a thick sheet of metal from its joints. We don't even have enough stuff around here for leverage," Max said staring at the mess around him. Most of the crates have broken up after the train fell over, cracking open and spilling its contents all over the place. Broken pieces of glass and cans of food were strewn all over the place. As if to confirm Max's point, Vanessa started crying.

" Aw, sucks, I didn't mean that…hey, please stop crying," Max said, feeling guilty now. He tried patting Vanessa on her head to calm her down, but it was of no avail. She just continued to cry, if not even louder.

Max put his hands up as he walked off to another part of the train, seeing that his efforts in pacifying Vanessa was of no use. Kimmy and Iris took over the job as Max continued searching for an exit from the train. Thankfully, the lights was still on, giving him enough visibility to look around the place. They were stuck in the train for almost an hour and Max guessed that the sun had already gone down by now. Nightfall was setting all over.

Max walked up to the edge of the carriage and carefully searched the walls. Despite them crashing off course, the train was relatively intact. He pressed his hands against the wall. Nothing seemed out of place. He applied pressure upon the wall. To his surprise, it budge slightly.

He observed the wall slightly. It was not entirely visible, but there was a small crack on the wall. He doubted that he could break open the wall, but he figured he could break open a hole from the crack. But then what? It was not like he could break out from a crack only about 5 inches in diameter. However, a thought did occur to him.

Kimmy watched as Max took out his combat knife and started slamming the blade repeatedly against the metal wall. Max gritted his teeth as he pounded the weak area on the wall over and over again.

Then, it happened. The knife sank into the metal sheet significantly. Max strained his body towards the left, pulling the knife hard. The knife moved along slightly. Max tugged once again. The knife edged itself once more. Max pulled again, but this time, Kimmy held onto his hand and pulled as well.

There was a sharp snap and both of them fell on top of one another, smashing into a couple of broken crates. Max winced, looking at the knife he was holding. The blade had broken from its shaft, rendering it useless. Giving a disgusted grunt, he tossed it aside and checked what he had accomplished.

A small crack had opened up just about enough to put a hand through. Max dug into his pockets and retrieved a grenade. Kimmy's eyes widened in fright.

" Wait, are you going to use that?" she asked, tentatively pointing at the explosive.

" We've got no other alternative out of this place than to blow ourselves out of here," Max explained.

" I must object…" Kimmy started.

" But…"

" Hey, wait, no buts. You are trying to blow us out. I must object to such a dangerous idea!" Kimmy scowled.

Max just flashed a silly grin as he pulled the pin off the grenade. Kimmy watched with her mouth agape as Max slid the explosive out of the small crack he made. " I don't think you would need to object anymore," Max said.

" Why you…"

" Berate me late, girl. It's going to blow soon," Max said, holding her hand tight as he led her to the back of the compartment. Max quickly pushed a few crates to act as a cover as all of them piled behind the crates. Max covered himself over the rest of them, wondering why he was being so protective as he waited for the grenade to explode.

The explosion was rather muffled, in Max's opinion. A bang went out, shaking the train as the shockwaves of the blasts rattled through the structure. The wall covering them from the outside absorbed most of the damage, blowing apart from the immense pressure of the explosion. As the dust settled, Max stood up to see the damage. The grenade had blown a large portion of the wall, leaving a smoking, gaping hole in the middle.

" Freedom!" Max yelled childishly. He scrambled out of the train and looked around. Dusk had settled around Specter Island, the sun now gone beyond the horizon. It was getting dark, and it was unsettling for him to be trapped on an island with zombies in the middle of the night.

As Kimmy, Iris and Vanessa slowly inched out, Max heard a buzz of static being emitted somewhere around him. He then realized he still had his radio. Taking it off his vest, he tried to speak into it.

" Hello, Phoenix, you there? Over," he spoke into the receiver. Nobody replied. He tried again. Same result.

" Gosh, I guess they are stuck somewhere. I just hope they are okay," Max mused, keeping his radio back on his vest.

" We should move along. The tracks are in that direction. We can retrace our steps from there so we might be able to meet them again," Iris pointed out. The damage from a careening train was obvious, looking at the broken signboards and disturbed gravel it had made.

" I think that's a bad idea. The hunters might still be around," Kimmy pointed out. It was a point well taken. Max had one magazine left in his rifle, and at best, he would be able to hold off two hunters at bay only.

" We'll circle around the area. Come on, Iris. I need your help in navigating this place," Max said.

---

" Hey, you alright?"

Phoenix vision came into focus. He was not sure how long he had been unconscious, but he assumed it was not long. He was lying on his back upon the train tracks. Mercury and Rick were looking worriedly over him. Brushing them back, he sat up, only to feel a throbbing pain at the back of his head.

" I'll live..." Phoenix said.

He saw in the distance that the train was on fire, having crashed to the side into a building after he blew it up with his grenade. Mercury, Rick and Dalton, who was approaching them at a distance, seemed to be in one piece. Shaking away his stupor, he got up.

" Where are the others?" Phoenix asked.

" Their train got derailed somewhere behind us. It crashed off course," Rick exclaimed, pointing to where they had originally came from. The carriage containing Max and the others were out of view.

" We should find them," Phoenix replied urgently, gripping his rifle.

" I don't think we can," Dalton sighed.

Phoenix hated the fact that he was right. Zombies were now approaching them, slowly staggering at the new arrivals. They would not be able to search for the rest of them when the zombies were cutting them off.

" We need to find a safe place to stay," Mercury said.

" Any suggestions?" Phoenix asked.

" There is a luxury apartment block nearby. It's pretty secure. It would be safe for us to stay in there for a while, provided we clean out the zombies inside," Rick suggested. The rest of them looked at him apprehensively.

" We don't have much of a choice. Rick, lead the way," Mercury said. Rick nodded and started running off. Dalton quickly followed, but Mercury noticed that Phoenix was not moving. He was looking at the general direction of where the last carriage had been seen.

" Hey, if they are alive, they will make it out. We can't help them now," Mercury said.

Phoenix still stared. Mercury wondered if he had even heard him. The zombies were getting closer now. Getting anxious, Mercury was about to try again when Phoenix spun around and nodded towards him, breaking off into a jog.

-

Rick stepped backwards as Dalton fired his shotgun at the on-coming zombie, neatly blowing its head off its hinges. He deftly spun his gun to the right to decapitate another with another shot. Both zombies still hobbled, moving towards them even without their heads for several steps, before falling down.

" Where next?" Mercury asked as both Phoenix and him caught up with Rick and Dalton.

" Um…down the road, about 7 blocks away," Rick said.

Dalton was already ready to dash off into the direction Rick pointed to when he felt someone grab him roughly by his shoulders. He was about to protest when he felt a strong hand cover his mouth tightly, preventing him from speaking. Both Phoenix and Mercury pulled him back and dropped down behind a large, damaged truck, motioning to Rick to do the same. Dalton wanted to ask what was wrong, but Mercury gave him a cold look, asking him not to speak.

Phoenix raised himself slightly to peek over the truck. Two blocks away, a group of five hunters came walking up the street. They took short, slow steps, as if they were having a stroll, once in a while snarling at one another. They dragged their claws of the floor, making eerie scratching noises as they walked.

" Hunters…" Phoenix said under his breath. Dalton leaned himself upwards to take a look before dropping down again.

" What the fuck are they doing?" Dalton cursed.

Phoenix took a look. The hunters apparently were not leaving. They had taken up position at the adjourning road in front of them, walking around in circles in front of an office block. They had been waiting for almost an hour, but the hunters decided to hang around the place, uninterested in going away. Phoenix had decided that it was prudent to wait instead of moving off, just in case the hunters sensed their presence, but their decision to hang around the block meant that they were stuck here. To make matters worse, night was approaching, and he could barely see the hunters in the dark, not to mention their black hide matched well with the dark sky.

He had tried to contact Max over their radios, but after the jump from the train, he had accidentally switched the frequency of the radio. So, he had to try to fiddle with the frequency knob to try and find the channel that was similar to Max's. He was still trying.

" When hunters can't find anything worthy of… well, 'hunting', they usually stay at one spot and wait for something to come by," Mercury said. At that very moment, a hunter squealed loudly, making loudly, horrible gnashing sounds. Phoenix squinted his eyes in the darkness to see what had excited the hunters. They were converging at a drain, one of them clawing at what looked like a mangled body of a rat.

" Looks like they just kill whatever that moves," Phoenix mused, sliding back down behind the truck.

" Great, this is just great!" Dalton exclaimed, his voice dripping with sarcasm, though he was careful to keep his voice low. " We should have bolted when we had the chance."

" And if we got spotted?" Phoenix questioned.

" We fire at them," he boldly replied.

" Not trying to question your bravery or stupidity, whatever it is, but we don't have enough firepower to take all of them down. If the whole group launches an attack, we are almost as good as dead, unless you have something as powerful as a rocket launcher," Phoenix replied while keeping his ears peel to the noises the hunters were making.

" We've pilfered some grenades from the dead Navy Seals," Dalton suggested after a while.

" These hunters are fast and alert. They'll scatter faster than mice if we throw a grenade at their direction," Phoenix said.

" Anyway, I've been wondering: Why are there such a large number of them here? Umbrella must be doing a hell lot of experiments here. There were roughly seven to eight hunters we fought back there on the train, now five more…" Phoenix said, looking at Mercury.

" There isn't a limit on how many hunters they would like to make," Mercury replied.

_No limit,_ Phoenix thought ruefully.

" Zombies are approaching," Rick whispered loudly.

All of them turned their heads. Right in front of them, a group of zombies were moving towards them. They were trapped. If they fired their weapons, they would alert the hunters. Opting to not use their weapons will leave them vulnerable to the zombies.

Phoenix decided that they had run out of time. They would have to face the hunters head-on. He didn't like the prospect, but it looks like they had no other options. Which was why he was surprised when Mercury asked him to stay low when he spotted him raising his rifle.

" What are you doing? We will need to fight them off before the zombies arrive!" Phoenix said urgently. Mercury raised a finger to his lips, showing Phoenix a sign to ask him to trust his actions.

Phoenix was about to object when he heard a clatter of footsteps. The truck shook suddenly as something climbed on it. Phoenix didn't need to guess what had.

With a horrendous war cry that echoed in the night, several hunters leaped over the truck and lashed out at the zombies, most of them decapitating the zombies with their sharp claws, lobbing the zombie's heads into the air before ripping its body to shreds. All of them watched in horror, and fascination, as the hunters started to kill off the zombies, who were stupidly walking towards their deaths, in a way. The sound of flesh and bone ripping from its joints were nerve-raking, making Dalton's hair stand on its end.

Phoenix stole a quick glance at Mercury. His knowledge in Umbrella's creations was helpful, as he knew the creatures' behaviors and used them to their advantage.

As the hunters continued with their indiscriminate orgy of carnage, they did not realize four dark figures slipping into the darkness, away from all the violence.

---

" Phoenix was here to escort you out of this island?" Max asked.

" Yes. My father planned to escape, after knowing Umbrella's ownership of Strycorps, but he was wary that Umbrella might be watching his back, so he asked Phoenix to escort me out, just in case something unexpected happened," Iris replied. She had spent the last few minutes explaining why Phoenix came to Specter Island. Max raised his eyebrows suspiciously before glancing around the corner to look around for any signs of danger before proceeding. He was clearly not convinced of the explanation, Kimmy could clearly see that.

" You don't seem to believe her," Kimmy said her thoughts.

" Well, I haven't been in contact with him in a long while, but I think I know him better than that. Phoenix would not want to bring himself into such a mess. Okay, the outbreak is just too much of a coincidence. Besides, he is married already, if I'm not mistaken. Why would he risk his ass here for something like this?...Not that I have anything against you, Iris," Max said, waving towards them, signaling that the road was clear.

" He's married? I wonder what kind of woman would want to marry him," Kimmy joked. Max laughed.

_He's much closer to Phoenix than what Phoenix was willing to admit, _Iris thought. It occurred to her that Max was unaware that Phoenix's wife, and her sister, had passed away, an information Phoenix apparently did not share with Max. Iris wanted to blurt out about it, but thought the better of it. If Phoenix wanted to tell Max, he would. She didn't want Phoenix to get pissed about it, if he even found out. Besides, Max did not look like a person who was good enough to keep a secret.

Max looked behind a wall at a T-junction at a road. Nothing was around. He was about to motion the rest of them forward when something caught his eye. Somewhere down the road, beyond the T-junction, there was a shadow of movement. Something humanoid was walking around. However, it did not looked like a zombie, leaving another answer.

" Max?" Kimmy asked, seeing Max quickly double back, hiding behind the wall that covered them from the road. The nearby house had enough porch lights on to allow Kimmy to see Max's face going white.

" Hunters…" Max whispered. Iris gave a collective gasp.

" How many?" Kimmy asked.

Max stole another look. " Five…I think," Max said.

" What now?" Kimmy asked, leaning back on the wall.

" Well, I don't know. We can't outrun them, not with a kid around. We can't kill them, there is just too many of them. We can slip around them, but they are occupying one of the brightest areas around here. I'd like to avoid dark alleys," Max said.

" Grenades?" Iris suggested.

" I've got a couple, plus one more in my launcher, but it's probably not enough. They'll scatter too fast before the grenades can effectively kill them," Max said. " Anyway, we…we…"

Kimmy and Iris stared at Max, wondering why he was stopping in mid-sentence. He was looking slightly to the right, his jaw hanging slack and his eyes unfocused. Kimmy thought he had spotted something else when he broke into a broad grin.

" Firepower, eh? I think I've just found enough firepower…" he said.

_Enough firepower? Didn't you just say that there was not enough?_ Kimmy wondered, seeing Max's broad grin.

Before he could explain his sudden inspiration, there was a soft crackle in the air. Max immediately grabbed the radio out of his vest and spoke into it.

" Phoenix!"

" You sound alright there. Are the rest of them still with you?" Phoenix's voice crackled over the radio. There was a lot of static, but his voice was audible.

" You worried about Iris?" Max scoffed.

" Don't avoid the question!"

" Yes, they are all alive and well. Where are you?"

" We have arrived at some luxury apartment around here. We are going to take shelter here for the time being. You should meet up with us at once," Phoenix said. It was more of an order.

" I know the place…but it's down that road," Iris said, pointing to the road where the hunters were spotted.

" Iris knows the place. We'll be arriving shortly," Max said.

" Alright, I'll see you soon," Phoenix said, ending the conversation.

" Wait a second, how are we going to get past these hunters?" Kimmy demanded.

" I have an idea," Max said.

" What is it?"

Max looked at the road, hoping the hunters had left. They had not. " Well, it's like this: I'll distract them, by running down the opposite direction there. The hunters will be after my tail. Once they are safely gone, the three of you head in that direction," Max thumbed his finger in the general direction of the road " And run as fast as you can."

" Are you insane, Max? You plan to become a decoy?" Iris gasped.

" I'm not allowing you to do this!" Kimmy said firmly.

" I have a good idea on how to deal with these hunters," Max said, trying to calm the other two ladies down.

" I just think you lack another half a brain to do so," Kimmy replied sternly.

" Why can't you ever trust what I do?" Max shot back.

" Because…"

Kimmy did not get the chance to complete her sentence. Placing both his hands on her shoulders, he leaned forward and pressed his lips on hers to silence her, which was very effective. Iris watched, her jaw dropping open, as Kimmy squirmed slightly under Max's grasp. Kimmy was not sure what she felt. She was ready to pound Max with her fists, raising them already, but she somehow could not. Max broke the kiss, not wanting to linger for too long just in case Kimmy came to her senses and didn't like it one bit. Vanessa just stared at the exchange quietly.

Max immediately tore into the opposite direction, moving as fast as his legs could carry him. Within two seconds, the hunters were alerted to his presence and were now tearing after him. Within several seconds, the hunters had passed the wall where the rest of them were concealed.

" Do you think we can trust him?" Iris asked.

" No…he was shaking as he kissed me…" Kimmy mused, looking worriedly at where Max had ran of to.

_Writer's note: In RE3 there was a part where a hunter lobbed off the head of a zombie, so I'm getting an idea that hunters just kill whatever they see, with the exception of themselves. _


	22. Chapter 19: Safe Haven

**Chapter 19: Safe Haven**

Max could not remember the last time he ran so fast. He strained his legs to the maximum as he tore into the night, knowing very well a second in delay could spell death in the hands of the hunters, who were in hot pursuit. He remembered the time where they had sport practices in school, but he always sucked at running. As he felt his body strain beyond their limits, he somehow wished he had more stamina than he already had.

_Just a few more meters…_he thought silently to himself.

He was quite surprised by his bravado act. Seriously, he did not know why he even opted for this course of action. Maybe it was due to the fact that he just needed to prove a point to Kimmy, showing that he loved to be a hero.

Indeed.

One of the few reasons why Max opted to work as a mercenary was that he felt bored with life. He could find no solace in books and lectures in school, opting to sleep through all the way. He was not a model student: messy, lazy, and always going against rules. Of course, he was not much of a trouble-maker, to the relief of his teachers.

Violence, in a way, was his life. He loved video games, and he would frequent video arcades and spend most of his allowance there. There was something exhilarating about using weapons, firing them, emptying them into another being. Max had often wondered if he was sick mentally, as he found that he could cope with death and destruction with little remorse. Yes, he still retained most of his teenage charm, but he was quite heartless when he wanted himself to be. It troubled him, but if he wanted to, he could force himself to forget about it.

Being a mercenary allowed him the freedom he always craved. The military would be his other option, but if there are no wars, the army would do nothing. So, basically he would just be training in the barracks, waiting for action to arrive. Max had morals; he just did not know the limits of it. However, in a way, he would loose everything for it. He had not talked to anyone else in his family for years, except his sister. He did not have much of a social life, except mixing with Phoenix to a certain degree. He had lived alone for years now, unsure with his life.

His meeting with Kimmy brought some new found life into him. In a way, he was attracted to her. He did not understand the way love works, or whether he wanted to understand it at all. All that mattered was that she had become important to him, something that confused him, yet made him exhilarated.

Max shook his head. He figured that he was thinking too much.

Max felt his body starting to give out, a sharp pang of pain welling up quickly by his side. He did not dare take a look behind at his pursuers, just in case he started to freak out at how close they were. They were close, all right. He could feel it.

He knew he would need perfect timing to execute his plan. Failing to do so will just result in his death.

Max spun around sharply at a corner. His heart almost jumped at the idea that his objective was not there. He had spotted the place earlier when they were creeping past the zombies on the way here. He just hoped that he did not make any mistake in its position. If he did not see it, Max wouldn't be surprised. It was not the first time he made such a mistake.

The petrol station was not far off, just a few meters keeping them apart. Max ran towards it, as the hunters kept on his tail. _So far, so good_,he thought. _Now, for the difficult part._

Releasing one hand off his rifle, he dug his free hand into his pocket and retrieved a grenade. He would need to time his drop perfectly. He planned to throw the grenade just before he reached the petrol station, giving him enough time to clear it just as the hunters caught up with him from behind.

Max sucked at mathematics. He was running too fast, his mind exhausted to remember how long the grenade needed before it exploded. Even if he could remember, he was unable to calculate how fast his was, and when he would pass the petrol station in time before it blew. Thus, he relied on another skill he seem to have in plenty: luck.

As soon as the grenade was out of his pocket, he yanked the pin off with his teeth and lobbed the grenade into the direction of the petrol station. The circular item bounced on the pavement before rolling several feet away to stop next to a petrol tank. _Brilliant, the explosion should be big enough. Now, to outrun the blast…_

Max threw whatever he had left in his body, willing himself to go further. His legs were screaming in agony now and he felt his feet go numb. He reached the petrol station already. The scrambling of feet behind him was catching up fast. He found out that he was slowing down. He felt so tense he was about to explode. He knew that he could run no further. Before he could even stop himself, his knees buckled under him, causing him to fall and roll along the road.

As he fell into a roll, the grenade exploded. The blast expanded itself, surrounding the entire petrol station. Bits and pieces of debris flew in all directions. Max vaguely felt himself being pelted with raining bits of metal and glass. However, it was the secondary explosion that did the real damage.

The fireball that erupted was the biggest Max had ever experienced in his life, especially being so close to it. The first explosion had set off other explosive material at the petrol station, sending up a roar of flames. Max felt the intense heat burn his skin as he was deafened by the loud sound of thunder exploding all around him. It forced him to roll even further. He could not hear it due to the sounds of the explosions, but the hunters that were chasing him that were caught in the blast gave a loud shrill cry, as if pleading for mercy.

Max was on the floor, trying to catch his breath. Slowly but surely, he felt the pain in his body subside as he took deep breaths, trying to bring his body's systems back to normal. He was getting dizzy from the lack of oxygen and was close to passing out, but he tried his best to regain his senses. The heat caused by the huge fire that was now burning around the petrol station felt caustic to his skin, although he was too tired to move off to another area.

As he felt his body starting to go back to normal, he picked himself up from the floor. He stepped backwards to stay away from the intense heat, holding his side as it still hurt from running too much. Max watched the fire as it continued to burn, lighting up the dark night. It was beautiful in a way. Max just watched the fire burn, just before he heard unusual noises.

Max stared in disbelief and terror as three hunters leaped from the flames. All three of them injured and two of them on fire, but it did not stop the fact that they were still able to move, albeit at a much slower speed. These hunters had leaped back just as the first explosion occurred, sparing them a explosive fate when the secondary explosion occurred. Their thick reptilian hide absorbed most of the damage, and now, they came at Max with a vengeance.

Max immediately lifted his rifle, a little too slowly than he would have preferred. He fired at the first hunter, the one that was not on fire. The hunter saw the rifle being raised and tried to jump aside, but its injuries slowed its reflexes. It howled in antagonizing pain as bullets riddled its now vulnerable skin, dropping to the floor.

Max took aim at a second, but he could only get a couple of bursts before it was upon him. Initially, Max's senses did not register any sense of pain as the hunters claws came forward, slashing him viciously on the chest, marking three clawed marks on his chest. It was until seconds later when he felt his blood run down his vest did he feel a numbing sensation spreading through his body. Max took a step backwards, but the hunter lashed at him furiously, slashing him all over. He felt a sharp pang of pain as its claws made contact close to his head, a claw catching him on the face as he fell down.

He was partially blinded by all the blood that was now flowing out form the wounds on his face. The hunter had struck a slash vertically from his forehead to the side of his nose. As Max rolled on his back, the hunter jumped on him, ready to finish him off. As it raised its arms, Max thought he was looking at a demon, a fiery and terrifying being that was on fire, its eyes glowing red as it was about to finish him off.

Max couldn't feel the sensation of his finger pulling the trigger of his rifle, as his senses was slowly slipping away. The hunter's body shook violently as it was riddled by bullets again and again until the rifle was empty. The hunter seem to hung in mid-air, as if it was still alive, but seconds later, fell back, bleeding all over the place, dead.

Max felt himself loosing consciousness. He knew with such wounds he was not going to live long, unless help arrived. There was the third hunter, but he was not bothered about it. He had resigned that he was going to die, and he accepted it gracefully. Life was cheap, and he wondered how true that was as he slipped out of consciousness.

" I'm sorry, Kimmy…: he moaned before passing out.

He would never know why the third hunter did not kill him off. It was severely injured from the blast, jumping out of the flames out of pure will. It collapsed after Max killed the second one.

---

The luxury apartment that Rick mentioned was aptly named Specter Flats. The was a five storey building with two apartment blocks for each level except the ground floor. It was a white building, although Phoenix could not be sure from the lack of lights from the area.

The area was pretty quiet, lacking zombie activity. Mercury, Rick and Dalton were following him from behind, closing in on the apartment. The front gate was open wide, the front electric gate broken apart, lying on the floor in a heap. Nobody was around, and Phoenix was hoping to find safe haven for the time being. Their trip to the first island would have to be postponed till the morning comes.

All of them whirled around when they heard the sound of on-coming footsteps. They breathed a sigh of relief later when they saw Kimmy, Iris and Vanessa running up the road.

" Guys!" Iris cried happily.

The group met up with each other and exchanged embraces. Phoenix was happy to see that Iris was unharmed. Kimmy started hugging Rick and Dalton, clearly staying away from Mercury. However, it was Rick who pointed out the problem.

" Where's Max?"

Mercury and Phoenix looked at the group. " That's right. Where is Max? He was with you moments ago!" Phoenix said.

" We ran into some hunters on the way. I suggested that we take a long way around, but Max decided to lure them away while we make it out of the place," Kimmy said mournfully, panting slightly.

" Is that guy crazy? How does he think he can outwit a bunch of hunters?" Mercury exclaimed, sounding alarmed.

He got his answer a second later. All of them recoiled in shock as a huge explosion occurred nearby. The night sky was illuminated in a bright orange glow, the fire shining brightly in the air before settling down. A huge fire had started out, burning brightly.

" Did he…blow himself up?" Rick asked, nervously. Kimmy didn't want to entertain that idea. Max was straightforward and simple-minded, but he was not suicidal.

Phoenix switched his radio on and barked " Max, can you hear me? Respond." He waited for a reply. All he heard was the sound of fire burning nearby. " Max, talk to me, damn it!"

" Do you think he got caught up in that?" Iris whimpered, after seeing that Max was not responding.

" No, the radio is still functioning, which means he still has it and is not damaged by the fire," Phoenix replied reassuringly, although he later added " Unless he dropped his radio."

Phoenix listened to the radio again as the rest of them watched the fire burning, too stunned to know what to do next. He could clearly hear the fire burning at the background, but his sharp senses picked up a noise that was in the background. It was faint and raspy, coming in intervals. Phoenix could not place it, but it suddenly hit him. It was the sound of someone breathing.

" He's still alive," Phoenix declared, switching off the radio.

" Really?" The rest of them exclaimed.

" Yes, but I think he's wounded from the sound of the breathing I hear," Phoenix said. He thought for a while to think of what to do next. Max was still alive, but he was wounded and was not responding, meaning he was incapable of coming here by himself. It didn't take long to make up his decision.

" Kimmy, follow me. We are going to pick up our asshole of a friend. The rest of you, get in and search the apartment block. I think we'll be staying here for a while," Phoenix said, slowly jogging off into the direction of the fire, leaving Kimmy to catch up with him.

" I hope Max is alright…" Rick said, hugging her sister tight.

" Yes, so do we, but let's go in first, shall we?" Mercury said. He looked at Dalton and waved to him to go in first.

-

The upper levels of the apartment blocks were inaccessible. The lifts at the bottom floor were under repair, and the fire escape was rammed by a car, breaking down part of the wall and completely sealing off the top floors. This only left them to explore the bottom lobby.

Dalton walked through the ornamented surroundings of the lobby. The walls had carved marble plastered to it, which was now in disrepair. Potted plants were strewn all over the place and the furniture was broken into bits. He spotted several blood marks. He gripped his shotgun tighter, hoping he would not need to use it.

He entered what looked like the swimming pool area. It was a medium-sized pool located in an enclosed area. The door sealing off the pool area had been broken apart forcefully, causing Dalton to look around carefully. Satisfied that there was nobody around, he walked in.

The lights came on suddenly, making Dalton spin around in surprise. Mercury had found the main set of switches and threw all the switches on, lighting up the area brightly. The pool area was a mess: towels everywhere, rubbish and rubble all over the place. Thankfully, there were no zombies around.

" Perfect, we can hide out in here for a while," Dalton mused, setting his gun down and taking a seat on a half-broken reclining chair by the side. It groaned under his weight, but otherwise held out.

" Will we be safe here?" Iris asked nervously.

" I think so. It is an enclosed area. We just need to make sure that we close all available exits, which includes windows, doors and all that. Get up, Dalton, and help me seal off the area," Mercury barked. Dalton grumbled and got off the chair. He wandered to an area that looked like a bathroom.

Rick guided Vanessa to take a seat by the corner as Iris took a good look around. It was until several minutes later when Dalton returned.

" The place seems safe," he said.

" I do hope so…so, what do we do now?"

" We wait, I guess…" Dalton said, taking a seat, before groaning as Mercury called his name again.

---

Phoenix and Kimmy ran along the darkened streets of Specter Island as they headed towards the fire like moths attracted to the flame. Phoenix expertly fired a few rounds to kill several on-coming zombies, dropping them to their knees as they ran past them. The fire could now be heard howling in the wind, like a raging beast enraged for having been woken from its sleep.

The explosion Max had set off was not far from where they were. They just had to run down several blocks to reach the place, and it was no trouble, provided they did not run into anymore hunters.

Both of them paused for a while, looking at all the damage Max had done. He had apparently set of a large explosion at a petrol station, by means of a spark or another explosive, probably a grenade. The petrol station, filled with fuel, was loaded and primed as a large explosive canister. However, the fuel did not last long. The huge fire was already softening down, becoming smaller and smaller with each passing second. It was then when they saw Max.

He was lying on his back on the road, his rifle right next to him. Surrounding him were several corpses of hunters, two of them having caught fire and their backs burning brightly as they lay as still as death on the cold, tarmac floor. He was several feet away from the fire. Lying in such a position, they had assumed the worst.

Both of them ran up to him, dropping next to him as they approached him. Kimmy's hand shot up to her mouth as she gasped, seeing Max's condition. He had a number of visible slash wounds, no doubt coming from the hunters, the most obvious on being a long, vicious cut that ran along his chest. He was bleeding badly, although thankfully blood was not seeping all over the place. There was a severe gash on his forehead, covering his face with blood. Phoenix saw that the hunters had ripped his armoured vest apart, not surprising as they hunters were capable of piercing steel.

" Oh my God…Max," Kimmy moaned, placing her hand on his chest, trying to wake him up. Phoenix was about to stop her, fearing that moving him would cause more serious damage to his body when they heard a faint groan. They saw Max shift his head slightly before opening his eyelids slightly.

" Hey, it's you guys…" he said weakly, the voice barely escaping his lips.

" Enough, Max! Save your strength," Phoenix said, but it was unnecessary. Max had just lapsed back into unconsciousness.

" Is he going to be alright?" Kimmy asked.

Phoenix stared at Max. His wounds were serious, but nothing a little first aid won't be able to fix. However, he considered it. Under the circumstances, helping Max was going to be taxing on them. They were as pressed as they were. Max chances of survival was slim, and it was Phoenix's better judgment to leave him be and to focus on other matters.

Or so he wanted to believe.

He would later question his actions on why he even bothered with this pathetic fellow. He didn't feel anything for him, even though Max said they went way back. He was just another person in the middle of this mess, just related to Phoenix because they used to work together, nothing more.

This, of course, doesn't explain why Phoenix felt the need to help Max.

Shoving his rifle for Kimmy to carry, Phoenix immediately scooped Max up in his arms. He was not surprisingly heavy, although Phoenix was used to carry weights much heavier than Max. He retraced his steps, heaving the bloodied heap in his arms as Kimmy followed him, the heavy rifle straining her arms.

---

The luxury apartment's lights were dimmed now, Mercury opting to close off several lights as not to attract any attention. The area was now dark and quiet, the silence that hung in the air sounding very ominous.

Dalton jumped back as Phoenix burst in the door, carrying the bloodied Max in his arms. Rick jumped up from his seat and started giving incoherent sounds as Iris and Mercury stared at Phoenix tearing through the swimming pool area. He laid Max quickly but gently on the floor as he dug for the small medical pack that the Navy Seal had.

" Quickly, some help here!" Phoenix declared urgently. " Iris, I need you to go and find some clean water. Not the pool water, damn it! Go! Kimmy, open the medical pack and spread its contents on the floor for me. Rick, go get some clean cloth…I don't care, anything!"

Rick scrambled off to find some cloth as Dalton got up to help Iris get some water. Kimmy's hands were shaking as she opened the medical pack and took out its contents: several rolls of bandages, a wad of cotton, a small bottle of disinfectant, other smaller bottles of medication which she did not bother to find out what, several syringes, among others. Phoenix rolled up the sleeves of his shirt as he took out his knife. Kimmy's eyes widened when she spotted the blade, wondering what Phoenix planned to do with it.

She almost breathed a sigh of relief as Phoenix placed the edge of the blade at the side of the vest and ripped it apart. It took some effort on his part, but the vest came off shortly. Phoenix ripped open Max shirt, revealing the horrible wounds that had been inflicted on him. He was lucky, in a way. The wounds were rather shallow, most of them rather superficial, but he had sustained a lot of them. Rick was back with a few towels he had found and Iris and Dalton returned with a small bucket of water.

Phoenix poured the water all over Max, washing his wounds clean. Soaking the towels in water, he started to clean the more stubborn spots. He could not be bothered about being efficient. When he had superficially cleaned his wounds, he started covering Max's wounds with disinfectant. The rest of them watched in awe as Phoenix feverishly started to bandage Max's wounds quickly, starting from his torso, working to his arms and finally to his head.

When all of that was done, he breathed a sigh of relief as he sat backwards, exhausted from his work. He wiped some sweat that had collected at his brow. Kimmy watched tentatively at Max, seeing that he was still alive, breathing very softly.

" My, he seems to be having a fever…" Iris said, her hand on Max's forehead.

" What? Infection, I guess…we probably need some antibiotics…" Phoenix gasped, reaching for the medical pack.

" Don't bother…" came a soft reply.

Everyone looked at Mercury. He was staring at them as he sat on a chair, the shotgun on his lap. Everyone wondered if he was joking, but it was hard to tell from the tinted goggles he wore.

" What?" Kimmy exclaimed, more forcefully than she would have preferred.

" He is infected, alright, but not in the normal terms," Mercury answered.

Kimmy's eyes widened in horror.

" You mean…"

" Yes, he is infected by the virus. He will turn into a zombie, in roughly two hours from now," Mercury said.


	23. Chapter 20: Choices

**Chapter 20: Choices**

" Idiots! Let me go!" Rachael yelled loudly. Two security guards carried her outside, holding her tightly by her arms. She tried to struggle in vain to release herself from her captors, but their grip was too tight. They exited the door of the building. It was then when she felt herself being forcibly pushed out like an unwanted piece of garbage. She tried to run back inside, but the guards blocked her way, standing in front of the door like some barricade. She was about to pounce again when Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her away. He had been more cooperative in leaving the building than she was.

" Can you believe those idiots? They can't treat us like this," Rachael howled.

" Some how I think they can…" Jack replied sadly.

Both of them have been scouring the island of Hawaii to obtain a helicopter where Rachael could use to fly and pick up Max. They tried the Coast Guard first, but they were adamant that no helicopter was to take off from that island until further notice from the government. Rachael was not so cooperative, so they decided to kick her out of the building. So, they tried other places, trying to rent a helicopter. However, the Coast Guards had other ideas. They had called up places where it was most likely Rachael will go to obtain a helicopter and warned them in advance. Rachael barely made a hundred feet into any building before being asked to leave.

" Can't the government do anything about this?" she wailed.

" Some how, I think the government is deeply involved in all this," Jack replied.

Rachael's eyes widened. " What do you mean?" she asked.

" Look at it. Since we got here, there has been a total blackout over Specter Island. No one in and no one out. The government isn't telling anyone what is happening. If your brother called, we would not know either. Nobody around here has any idea what is happening to Specter Island. Some are not even aware that there is a lockdown there," Jack explained.

" You think the government is keeping Specter Island like this?" Rachael asked.

" I hate to entertain that idea," Jack confessed.

" What do we do now? We can't get any helicopters anywhere…" Rachael moaned.

" We don't need to exactly board a helicopter," Jack replied.

Rachael spun around on him. " What is that supposed to mean?" Rachael asked. Jack whispered into her ears. Rachael's eyes brightened as she heard Jack's plan. " We might be able to pull that off!" she exclaimed.

-

Jack casually strolled in the main registration area of the building. He felt nervous at trying to pull a stunt like this. He somehow wished he had joined his school's acting club, then he wouldn't be so nervous right now. The lady manning the front desk gave him a winsome smile as he took a deep breath before taking the plunge.

" Hi, I'm here to…" Jack said, before making his move. The lady's eyes widened in surprise as Jack rolled up his eyes suddenly to his head and her mouth dropped open in shock as he fell onto the floor.

There was nothing really wrong with him, he was just acting. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel people gathering around him. Someone touched him on his back, trying to wake him up by shaking him gently. A female voice was already calling out for help.

_Nothing attracts humans more than human tragedy._

Jack hope this diversion was big enough for Rachael to obtain what she needed.

---

" You can't be serious…" Iris moaned. " You just said that the hunters are just experiments done by Umbrella…"

" Indeed they are, by using the zombie virus as a main component in their body systems. These genetically engineered bio-weapons are heavily infused with the virus. It is known that if you forcibly extract the virus or somehow suppress it, the hunter will die as it needs the virus to sustain itself. Max had been infected, that is for sure…" Mercury replied.

There was a total silence between all of them. They did not like what they heard, not one bit. Everyone just looked at it each other, wondering if it was all a bad dream, sharing looks of disbelief and despair. It was Kimmy who broke the silence. She ran up to Mercury, grabbing him roughly by his collars and yanking him violently to his feet.

" You have to cure him! There has got to be a cure! You'll need to help him!" Kimmy howled, shaking Mercury violently. He tried to hide a look of surprise as Kimmy demanded his help. The others were too tired or in a right state of mind to try to stop her.

" I cannot…"

" Yes you fucking hell can! You're from Umbrella! You know how these fucking viruses work! You must know a way to stop them!" Kimmy screamed.

" Enough of this nonsense!" Mercury bellowed, pushing Kimmy back hard. The intensity of his voice seemed to have silenced her. Mercury was visibly shaking, with a pained expression on his face, maybe due to Max's predicament or Kimmy's demands, of both. He took long deep breaths now, the instant exertion of anger sapping a lot of energy from him.

" I know damn well how these viruses work! But what you are asking is impossible. To make a vaccine to save him will require several hours and a fully operational and functional laboratory which only Umbrella and a few other scientific laboratories that the U.S. government have, and for some fucking unknown reason, they did not build one here on this crummy island! So there is nothing I can do to help, so please, spare me the responsibility and the burden. If I could, I would save him, I swear it!" Mercury roared.

Kimmy stared coldly at the man, still unwilling to accept the fact. Mercury took a deep sigh and fell back upon his seat. Dalton gave a grunt and tossed his shotgun to the side, slumping to the floor. Kimmy just knelt down right next to Max and sobbed, her body convulsing once in a while. Iris was right by her side, trying to soothe her.

However, they all heard Vanessa gave a collective gasp. They saw Phoenix standing up next to Max, cocking his Desert Eagle and taking aim at Max's forehead.

" Hey, what the fuck do you think you are doing?" Kimmy yelled, jumping up and knocking Phoenix aside. It was of no use. Phoenix was about as movable as a boulder, and Kimmy felt the rebound as she fell on her bottom after ramming herself into him.

" Killing him, of course," Phoenix said coolly.

Kimmy's jaw fell slack. " What in the world for?" she demanded.

" Max is already infected. He'll turn into a zombie soon. For that, I'd like to spare him the horror of turning into one," Phoenix replied, his cold steely eyes penetrating into Kimmy.

Rick was already up and tugging at Phoenix's sleeves, pulling the gun away to another direction. " You can't mister. He's my pal, and he's still alive. You can't kill a living being without feeling remorse, can you?" Rick exclaimed.

" He's going to die anyway. You would prefer to let him turn into an undead?" Phoenix rebutted.

" But he is still alive!" Kimmy replied.

" No for long…"

" How can you say such a heartless thing? Aren't you two friends?" Kimmy yelled.

" Did he tell you that sort of bullshit? Because, let me tell you something, we aren't! We were just a couple of mercenaries working on a same mission, that's all!" Phoenix cried, spit flying out of his mouth.

" Phoenix has a point. We can't let him turn into a zombie in here. What if he attacks us?" Dalton asked, getting off from his seat.

" You expect us to throw him outside?!" Kimmy asked, incredulous.

" Why not?"

Kimmy sputtered something unconceivable, showing rude gestures at Dalton, which he didn't appreciate one bit.

" Wait, we shouldn't be arguing over this…" Iris said, worried at the escalating argument.

" I'm doing this for his own good. Why can't you see that?" Phoenix demanded.

" This is bullshit!" Kimmy yelled.

" Please don't kill him…" Rick begged.

" You one selfish bitch, you know?" Phoenix scowled.

The argument was quickly becoming a fistfight, when all of a sudden, there was a weird ringing noise in the air. Everybody stopped. The ringing was rhythmic, going on and off in intervals. Everyone looked around themselves, wondering where the noise was coming from. It then later occurred to them that it was a cell phone ringing, and it was coming from Max.

Mercury responded at once. He dove for Max, reaching into his pocket off his long pants. A small cell phone was retrieved. Mercury stared at the phone for a second, before pressing the button to take the call.

" Max, oh my God, you're there. I was so damn worried about you. You haven't called since hours ago. I wanted to contact you sooner, but I was on a flight and those damn attendants wouldn't even let me take out my cell phone," came the reply.

The woman speaking at the other end was speaking fast and furiously, sobbing once in a while during intervals in her speech. She sounded highly strung, her voice unusually squeaky and she sounded agitated. Mercury could make out the sound of a motor behind her.

" Max, I'm coming, alright. I've got a transport to take you out. It will take a while before reach there, maybe a few hours. I'll need some rough coordinates on where you want me to pick you up…Max, you there? You sound awfully quiet…is something wrong?...Max, answer me…." The female asked, sounding suddenly very worried.

Mercury decided to take the plunge. " I'm sorry, this isn't Max," he replied. He later would wonder whether it was bad remark. He could imagine this woman suddenly recoiling in horror, her whole body shaking in fright. He just prayed that she would not put down the phone.

" Not…Max…T-Then, who is this?" the caller replied, slowly and carefully now.

Mercury felt that it was prudent that he didn't reveal his real name, since a lot of people now think Mercury Cross was some sort of a criminal now. " I'm someone who survived the outbreak. May I know who this is?" he asked.

" My name is immaterial!" the caller suddenly spat, furious now. " Where the hell is my brother? How have you obtained his phone?"

_Brother?_ The caller had to be Max's sister. He had earlier said that he had called her for help. So, she had been successful. However, she might be discouraged from rescuing them if she found out that Max was about to die soon. Max had already woken up. He was aware of his surroundings. Turning his head and opening his eyes as much as he could, he stared at Mercury and moaned something that sounded like Rachael.

" Is this Rachael on the line?" Mercury asked.

"…Yes…"

" Your brother Max is with us, don't worry. He's still alive and is under our care," Mercury tried to speak as calmly as possible. _Probably not for long…_

" Why isn't he answering his own phone?" Rachael asked.

_Time for the crunch._ " Your brother is injured, Rachael," Mercury said. He wanted to say something else, but he was unsure whether to fabricate a lie or just tell the truth, so he let his words hung there.

" What?" Rachael exclaimed loudly.

Mercury felt someone tug his pants. Looking down, he saw Max pulling his leg to get his attention. " Let me speak to her…" he said weakly. Mercury immediately passed the phone. Max hands were too weak to hold it properly, so Mercury pressed the device to his ear.

" Hey, sis…" he said, laughing despite his pain.

" Max, oh God, they said you are hurt…"

" I am, sis…"

" How are you going to make it?"

" Don't worry, sis. I'm with a couple of people here. They'll help me get along. I trust them. Don't worry, they'll help me get of this freaking island," Max groaned.

Kimmy shot Phoenix a spiteful look. Apparently he did not hear their argument earlier about killing him off. Phoenix tried not to look at her as he looked at the conversation Max was having.

" Is that the sound of a motor I hear?" Max asked.

" It is…I'm coming to get you bro…" Rachael said, sobbing.

" Where are you picking us up?"

Max heard the shuffling of paper in the background. " Do you know where Recon's Port is?"

" You guys know where Recon's Port is?" Max asked. Iris and Rick nodded their heads.

" Right, we know. We need room for some other people. Do you have some spare space?" Max asked.

" I do, but how many people?"

" There are only seven of us, Rachael, two kids…"

Everyone held their breath. Max had indeed heard their earlier argument and had decided that he won't be able to make it back. He had even written himself off.

" Sure, more than enough…"

" Alright, call when you reach, okay? We shouldn't talk too long. My batteries are not going to last," Max said, turning his head away. He motioned to Mercury to cut off the line.

" Max, what is this nonsense? You are coming with us!" Kimmy exclaimed loudly.

" Forget it, Kimmy, I'm lost. You guys should save yourselves…" Max said, closing his eyes already.

" No, Max…"

" No, Kimmy…" Max said, trying to squeeze her hand. " That's enough…please…" Kimmy just sobbed.

" Phoenix…?"

" What, Max?"

" Weren't you going to kill me…?"

Phoenix stared at Max, now drifting into unconsciousness. The Desert Eagle was still in his hands, which were now getting sweaty. He gripped the gun tightly, considering his options. He had no heart to kill him now, not after Max's valiant effort to try to secure a means of escape for them when he was ready to write him off. His morals could not take it.

Phoenix walked off towards a wall, roaring loudly as his pounded his fists as hard as he could on the wall, venting his pent up frustration.

" What the fuck am I thinking…?"

-

Things were quiet at the pool. About half an hour had passed since Rachael called. Most of them had eaten some supply of food Max had packed during their rest in the train and were now lying around the poolside, doing nothing. Kimmy was sitting right next to Max, stroking his arm for whatever the reason. Phoenix had opted to sit as far away as possible, next to the front door.

Dalton saw that Mercury had been staring at Max for a very long time. Dalton knew what was going on in Mercury's mind: he was blaming himself for Max's predicament. He could see his guilt-stricken face, contemplating on Max. If he died, Mercury would be forever etched onto Kimmy's hate list.

" Hey, man," Dalton started, making sure to keep his voice low so that Kimmy would not hear him. " You know, I understand that you feel that what happened to Max is your fault, but don't think about it, dude. Sure, Kimmy is probably going to hate you for life, but you can do anything. You're punishing yourself too much. You know that."

Mercury did not respond. Indeed, he was burdened by the fact that this was his fault, but he was thinking of other things besides the fact that Kimmy hated him. He didn't mind that, and in his rightful opinion, he downright deserved it. He was thinking, however, of other things. He was actually observing Max carefully, noting the rate he was breathing, the visible signs on his body, his reactions. Suddenly, after several minutes of observation, he discovered something, something that he did not realize earlier, and, at least, was good news.

" Hey, Professor," Dalton said, calling him by a name he disliked " You listening to me?"

" That's it!" Mercury exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He surprised everybody with his actions. He seemed to be beaming, suddenly as if he had seen the light. " Why didn't I notice it earlier? I must have slipped my mind…"

" What has…?" Kimmy groaned.

" People, I have a way to save Max," Mercury declared.

" You what?" Kimmy asked, wondering if it was too good to be true. " But, I thought earlier you said…"

" What I said earlier is immaterial. I know a way to save him," Mercury said.

" Then, what are we waiting for?" Iris asked.

" Before I continue, I need to say a few things. I do have a method in mind, but I cannot guarantee anything. First of all, I will need to go to a hospital, or any place with a supply of medicine. I don't know what stuff they stock up here, so there is no guarantee that I can create the serum to save Max. Secondly, going out will mean wasting some of our ammunition," Mercury said.

" What's the point? Let's just go," Kimmy said, getting up. Mercury stopped her by raising his hands.

" Wait…"

" Why do we have to wait? He's dying!" Kimmy said, stamping her feet.

" Because we are a team here, and what we do will affect everyone else. We cannot jeopardize all of our lives just for one person, so we must be fair to one another, no matter who may die. To survive, we need to work as a team, and for that, we must decide as a team!" Mercury said with authority and vigor in his voice. His meaning was caught by them, and everyone looked at him. Seeing that he had everyone's attention, he continued.

" Now, I need you all to consider this: we risk our ammunition and our time and effort for about a 50 percent chance of saving him. Of course, this chance is just an arbitrary unit, but it's roughly the risk we can take to save him. There is, I repeat, no guarantee that I can really save him, it is all due to chance. I want a vote. If the majority wins, only will I proceed. Yes, or no…" Mercury said.

" Of course yes! You don't need to ask me such a question," Kimmy declared. Mercury nodded. He understood the bond that is attached between Max and her, and he was not about to argue about it.

" Yes," Rick exclaimed after a while.

" You're just a kid," Dalton shot back.

" Technically, you are too. Everyone has the right to vote, Dalton. What's your choice?" Mercury asked, his voice left hanging in the air.

Dalton turned aside, unsure what to say.

" Say yes, damn it!" Kimmy yelled.

" We can't force him to…" Mercury said. " Iris?"

" I don't know…" she replied, indecisive.

" Phoenix?"

Phoenix pretended that Mercury was not even talking. He slowly got up and walked towards the bathrooms, ignoring the conversation. They heard a door close, keeping him out of the conversation.

" Yes…" came a croaked voice. Everyone turned around to look at Vanessa. She nodded again in agreement.

" Alright then, Kimmy, take some ammunition with you. I'll need your help," Mercury said, taking up his shotgun. Kimmy's heart was leaping. Mercury was willing to help.

" What kind of majority vote was that? Only three people said yes," Dalton scowled.

Turning slowly towards his friend, Mercury coolly said " Dalton, as I said earlier, if I could save this man, I would. And I will, now that I can."


	24. Chapter 21: Thoughts

**Chapter 21: Thoughts**

Phoenix stepped out of the toilet. The sun had long set, covering the entire area in a sheet of darkness. There light in the room was barely enough to keep things in the place visible. Iris looked up at him as he exited the washroom, her eyes large, seemingly frightened. Rick and Vanessa were huddle by the corner, talking quietly. The young boy gave Phoenix a fleeting glance, and he wondered if he hated Phoenix's decision to put Max out of commission. Dalton was fast asleep on the floor, spread out of the floor on his back in an awkward position that did not seem to bother him.

He turned his head to the right, looking aside. Kimmy and Mercury were at the front door, most probably getting their gear ready before they left. Iris had earlier given them instructions on where to go. They were chatting, Mercury speaking mainly, but they were too far off for their conversation to be heard properly. Kimmy was not so violent with him now that he was going to help Max.

Phoenix walked up to Max and stared at him, lying down straight with his back towards the floor. He had earlier removed his vest and bloodied shirt, rounds of bandages covering his now exposed body. He wondered if he should place some cover over Max's body just in case he was cold, but he thought the better of it since the conditions of the place was already starting to make him sweat.

He continued to stare at Max, wondering to himself whether he had done the right thing. There he was, injured and infected, soon to be a zombie in a matter of hours. He wondered what was becoming of him.

He sighed, shaking his head. _He's not even my friend, why am I giving a damn about him?_ But somehow, inside him, he knew he was lying.

Iris just stared at him as he picked up his rifle and walked towards the front door, mouthing the words: " Stay here…" quietly.

---

Kimmy had said nothing ever since Mercury started packing some equipment before setting off. Kimmy felt very conflicted with herself: A person she had vowed to hate was helping her save someone important to her. No doubt, she reminded herself, that it was probably his fault this entire problem came up, but it did not help the fact that he was willing to help. Mercury seemed to have caught her thoughts, but decided to say nothing about it.

" Hey, Mercury…" she started.

" Yes?" he asked casually.

" Why are you doing this?" Kimmy asked.

Mercury was unsure what to say. He felt a very primal feeling well up in him, something that crept up multiple times since working with Umbrella. He found it difficult to explain, so he chose his words wisely.

" There was this time when I was working in Umbrella when they brought in a specimen of an infected vector. This was right after the Raccoon city incident. A month after the bombing, several officers from Umbrella brought in a survivor of the incident. Nothing really special, except through thorough testing we later found out this person was carrying the G Virus, a rather mutative virus that is virulent and often changes humans to untold horrors one can only imagine. Strange thing was, the person who came in was unaffected by the virus, as if there was nothing in her," Mercury said.

Kimmy was not sure why Mercury was talking about his past with Umbrella, but she did not say a word and listened to him.

" She was just a young girl, twelve years of age. She had already lost both her parents by that time, probably due to the Raccoon city outbreak. She was supposed to be under the custody of the government, but somehow Umbrella managed to take her away. She was quiet, submissive, rarely talks much, but she was so much mature for her age, it was hard to imagine that she was just twelve years old. Even after the outbreak, she did not seemed disturbed, and talked to us casually. Most of the time she spoke of wanting to see her guardians, but Umbrella isn't going to win any hospitality awards soon."

" Her guardians?" Kimmy asked.

" Yes, two actually. She did not say much, but they were two people who had taken care of her while escaping Raccoon city. They were separated for whatever reason I did not find out. But Umbrella's people were scientists. They prefer to believe a microscope than human speech. They carried out extensive tests on her, prodding her with needles, taking samples from her body and keeping her under 24 hours surveillance to check on any changes on her body. In short, they were depriving this girl of a life, reduced to nothing more than a guinea pig."

Mercury continued after a sigh. " After a year, they came up with little, save that her body's system could withstand the virus. Being unable to continue any further tests, they decided to do one last one: to kill her off," Mercury said. Kimmy felt a chill surrounding her body, even though the entire area was rather warm.

" It was the last ditch effort to see if the virus was indeed really redundant in her body, which they think was not if she died. One the body dies, the virus can easily take over, or so they thought. It was never really put up as a plan, but it was already fixed. They had taken enough samples from her for future study, so they had opted that she was of better use in this last experiment. Not being able to bear it, I talked to her privately one day, telling her what they had planned to do with her. You know what she said to me? She told me straight in the face that she was ready to die."

Mercury kept quiet all of a sudden. Kimmy wanted him to continue and was about to prompt him to when he took a deep breath and said " Can you believe it? A girl barely passing her puberty age telling me that she was already ready for death. She was in fact more worried about me getting into trouble that I was against this…"

" I'm sorry, but what does this girl have to do with your decision to save Max?" Kimmy asked.

Mercury started to frown. " Seeing Max in this state reminds me of her, and her fate…" he replied.

" Max is not a 12 year old kid…" Kimmy retorted, though she started to feel conflicted with herself. _Why am I defending this person?_

" No, Kimmy, but they have so much in common: they are people who had barely gone through their lives, having experienced nothing, innocent people who are suffering at something that should not have existed. They are victims, and frankly that is all that matters," Mercury said.

Kimmy kept quiet.

" Anyway, we aren't going to achieve anything by standing idly here doing nothing. Shall we go?" Mercury asked, picking up his shotgun.

" One more question: What happened to that girl in the end?"

He paused for a while. " Well, I just hope I can save another life tonight," he sighed. Kimmy noticed that he was staring to her back at something, although it became clear what had gotten his attention. Footsteps could be heard approaching them, and Kimmy turned around to see Phoenix walking up to them, armed with his rifle.

" What's this? A change of heart?" Kimmy scoffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

" Not really…I wonder who was the asshole who said Max couldn't be helped…" Phoenix replied, staring hard at Mercury. Kimmy felt that he was somehow shifting the blame on Mercury, which was no doubt rude. Mercury also felt it as well, but he decided not to say anything.

" Both of us will do fine," Mercury replied.

" Nonsense! You expect this kid to guard your back with a puny handgun when there are hunters crawling about the place? Please, you sound like you are suicidal or something," Phoenix rebutted.

" So what? You gonna do the guarding?" Kimmy scoffed.

" As matter of fact, yes…" Phoenix replied, cocking his rifle.

" That's fine with me. Let's just move," Mercury said with some sense of urgency in his voice.

---

A lone figure was looking through his night-vision binoculars, observing the front entrance of the apartment block. It had been sometime, but now he noticed three figures exiting the building, one female and two males. Moreover, this observer noticed that one of the males was none other than Mercury Cross, one of his primary targets. He did not know who the other two were, but the other male was wearing an armoured vest similar to his. These people were survivors, and his orders stand.

Taking up his radio, he said " Team one, enter the building. Team two, follow me. Regroup at point alpha 3."

Picking up his weapon, he slowly but carefully started moving towards the direction where the three people were heading. Four other people followed him closely as five others moved towards the building in which the people he saw just exited.

---

Iris tried to stifle a yawn as she tried her best to stay awake. She had to keep watch on their surrounding area now that Dalton had fallen helplessly asleep. She could not count on the kids to keep watch. Max was unconscious and there was nothing he could do.

She checked on Max's condition. He was taking very slow, shallow breaths, as if it was a pain for him to breathe. His vest and shirt had been ripped beyond repair, so the only things covering his exposed body were bandages that Phoenix had applied earlier. At least the hunters did not rip his long, cargo pants apart or he would be forced to move around in his underwear. Iris giggled at the thought.

She suddenly noticed something that made her heart skip a beat. Max was getting rather pale, his skins showing tones of purple. Iris wondered if this was a sign he was turning into a zombie. Mercury had better hurry.

" Hmm…yuck…" she groaned. She had pressed her hands on her shirt, and it was only now when she realized that her body was still covered in a layer of grease. She then realized that she could take a bath here.

She turned around to inform the rest of them when she noticed that Rick and Vanessa were missing. She started to panic, her eyes looking around the area for them. They were nowhere around.

" Rick? Vanessa?" Iris cried.

" Here!" came a cheerful reply. Rick popped his head out of the corridor where the male toilet was situated. " My sis had to take a leak…" he replied, before disappearing back into the toilet. Iris wanted to point out that his sister was female, but then realized there was no point in following procedure in such a situation.

Dalton was still snoring even after Iris called them. " Humph, let him sleep. I'll just take a bath," she said, walking towards the female toilet.

---

There was just enough light from nearby buildings and streetlamps to guild Mercury, Kimmy and Phoenix along the streets of Specter Island. Mercury was leading the way, following the directions Iris had given him.

They arrived in front of a small hospital. The lights in the hospital were still on, leaving a white glow all over the place. Thankfully, they had encountered no resistance from zombies on their way here. Phoenix raised his rifle and went up to the door. It slid open, the automatic door's machinery still functioning well.

The lobby was a mess. Chairs were all toppled over and paper covering the floor. A lot of blood had spilled all over the place, staining the floors, walls and even the ceiling. There were no visible corpses or bodies of humans around, save for bits and pieces of what looked like pieces of flesh strewn all over the place. The only thing left untouched in the place was the magazine rack that stood by the side.

" Perfect, this is the place. I just hope we can find the suitable items," Mercury said. He tore towards the dispensary, leaping over the desk where the glass plane had broken and ran inside to the back where they stored all the medicine. Phoenix and Kimmy quickly followed.

As they entered, they saw Mercury already scanning the rows and rows of shelves where bottles of medicine of various kinds were stored. There was just too many for Kimmy to see and understand. There were hundreds of types of bottles containing liquids and capsules, not to mention coming in various colours. It did not seem to faze Mercury as he looked through the area, a smile suddenly breaking out from his lips.

" Excellent," he said.

" You can save Max?" Kimmy exclaimed, wanting to jump in joy.

" Yes, and much more," Mercury said, immediately taking out bottles and containers containing pills and capsules and started placing them on the floor. Kimmy was not sure what Mercury meant by that, but she did not dwell on it long as Mercury was asking for her assistance.

" Kimmy, go to the back and get me some water. Bring them in cups or anything you can hold them with. I need about 500mls. And while you are at it, try to find me some bandages, will you?" Mercury asked, arranging his stuff on the floor as he rolled up his sleeves to get ready to go to work. Kimmy tore towards the back trying to find what Mercury asked her to.

" Well, you just keep watch…" Mercury said, seeing Phoenix eyeing him rather intensely.

Phoenix was about to say something when a familiar sound stopped him. It was the sound of the automatic door opening.

---

Dalton was having difficulty sleeping. Try as he might, he could not sleep. It was not like he had insomnia or anything, but the days events were had wore him out to the point where sleep would be of no use. The rest of them though he was, but he was actually wide awake.

Which would explain the reason why he suddenly sat upright when he heard the sound of the front door closing.

He wanted to call out to see whether Mercury had come back, but he knew it was too soon for that. Besides, he could not hear their footsteps, their voices or anything. He just did not feel right. Living in the streets during his younger years had some how honed his senses to a level where he would trust his instincts. And right now, his instincts said that there was danger and he trusted it.

He cursed under his breath as Rick, Vanessa and Iris was nowhere to be seen. He heard the sound of splattering water coming from the female restroom, and he guessed that Iris was taking a bath. He jumped up and was about to run into the female restroom when something else stopped him.

It was the sound of people approaching, fast. He could hear very faint footsteps coming from the entrance of the pool. Immediately, he leaped up and jumped towards the door, hiding himself just behind the wall of the entrance. Within a second later, a figure leaped in.

Dalton had a good look of this person from his behind. He was obviously a Navy Seal. He was dressed exactly like the two dead Navy Seals they had encountered earlier today. He was wearing the same vest Phoenix and Max had after taking it from the dead people. He was armed with a M16 rifle, minus the grenade launcher Phoenix and Max had.

The armed man looked around. Dalton was nicely hidden behind a small recess behind the wall, so the man skipped him as he scanned the area. He suddenly perked up to another sound. Dalton realized he had heard the sound of water coming from the toilet.

" One of the targets is in the toilet," the man said, probably into his radio.

" Very well, exterminate target," came a cold, robotic reply. Dalton felt his body tense up immensely as the man started to move towards the restroom. They were obviously here with hostile purposes.

The instinct for survival took over so quickly it even surprised Dalton. He leaped out of his hiding place and before the man could completely turn around to see what had popped out from the corner, Dalton fired. The shot hit the man squarely in the chest, but his armoured vest absorbed most of the damage. He groaned in pain, clutching his chest as he started to bleed profoundly. Dalton pumped his shotgun for another shot, but it was empty, so he aimed a kick at the man's face, sending him reeling backwards and into the pool.

There was the chatter of bullets being fired and Dalton felt something whiz past his ear, nearly hitting his head. He buckled his knees and dived out of the way as more bullets were fired from the entrance by two other Navy Seals. Dalton tossed his gun aside, knowing that it was useless now that he had not spare ammunition with him and the ammunition they had was left in the bags, which Rick was ironically carrying.

With adrenaline surging through his body, he was rejuvenated instantly. He found the strength to leap to his feet and run as fast as he could. He knew he had to find cover soon. The pool was an open area and he would be a juicy target to a trained Navy Seal. His brain searched for the nearest cover he could find, which was a small niche at the corner of the wall of the pool area. Skidding slightly over the wet pool surface, he reached the corner the instant the Navy Seals entered the area.

Dalton barely had the time to ponder about why these people were here and how they had tracked them here. But Mercury's sentiments about the government being hostile were ringing in his mind now. Questions will have to be left for later, survival came first.

Dalton heard the roar of fire. The walls around him started breaking apart as it got riddled with bullet holes, blowing the plaster to bits. He leaped for cover as he felt a dull thud behind his back, knowing that he was slightly too late and he had been hit, although he could not feel any pain.

Dalton grunted as he fell on the floor with a crash. Rolling over, he grabbed his arm which had had extended to break his fall as it was throbbing painfully for absorbing too much damage. He was just glad that it had not decided to snap in two. His senses were numbed slightly from the impact, but other than the throbbing pain that he was experiencing now, he was still alright.

The niche of the wall actually was a small corridor which led to the emergency exit. Dalton got up and tried to open the door, but the knob was jammed shut, sealing the door. He decided to bang his fists hard on the door, but stopped as he started to hurt his fists. Totally ironic: the emergency exit being his death trap.

He felt strange. He remembered being hit, but he didn't seem to be bleeding or in any pain from a bullet wound. He fingered his back and felt an object he forgot was there. He took out his sawed shotgun which he had brought along to save Mercury. It was empty, but he could see a bullet lodged at the side of the barrel. He had forgotten that he tucked it at the back of his trousers and it had served him as a bullet plate. However, his troubles were far from over.

He slowly peered out of the wall. He jerked his back as shots were fired at him, chipping the wall away. The Navy Seals were still on him, and he was out of ammunition. He doubted that Iris could help him, since she was bad with weapons. Rick had their supply of ammo, but he would not count on him to save him anytime soon.

His heart was now beating rapidly as the danger approached. He checked himself to find anything useful to use. He had nothing with him, save his clothing now. There was a fire extinguisher next to him, a mirror that hung on the wall and bits and pieces of what the Navy Seals had chipped off the wall.

Dalton saw the shadows of the Navy Seals approaching, and he felt his time was up. He felt images of his past fly by him, things he had done in the past. _Wait, I thought you were supposed to have these flashbacks AFTER you die?_ It did not matter much. As he slumped on the wall, his mind reeled back to the time where he had set a fire on a kitchen stove at Mercury's home and Mercury had to extinguish it using a fire extinguisher. The whole place was cover in white foam as Mercury place the ire out of commission. Strange thing was, this memory kept repeating itself in his mind.

He looked at his right, at the fire extinguisher that lay by his side.

_You want me to use this as a weapon?_

_---_

Jason Lands stared from afar as he saw several armoured and armed people enter the apartment building. He was about to go closer for a look when he heard gunshots being fired from the inside. He decided that he did not want to mix with this crowd as he slowly scampered away.

_Writer's note: I don't need to tell you who the girl Mercury saved was. You can figure that by yourself. I just wanted to add her here just for fun, since I'm not sure what really happened to her later after RE2._

_Jason Lands has become something of a defunct character. I had initially wanted to get him to meet up with the rest of the survivors, but somehow I messed up the story a bit. Now, I just have to show that he is still hanging around. My bad._


	25. Chapter 22: Hostility

**Chapter 22: Hostility**

Mercury looked up, seeing Kimmy return with several cups of water that she had obtained from a dispenser and a handful of bandages in her hands. She placed them down next to Mercury's array of medicine bottles and pills had had collected. She wondered what would Mercury concoct with this strange bizarre of liquids. She was highly reminded of bartenders mixing cocktails. Mercury seemed to have noticed her apprehensive look.

" You doubt me?" he asked.

" No, it's just that all this looks pretty…" Kimmy started.

" Bizarre, not doubt," Mercury finished.

" It's strange you can concoct an antidote for a virus out of all this nonsense," Kimmy confessed.

" No doubt, it is strange, because I'm not making an antidote, or a cure for that matter," Mercury replied.

Kimmy was totally taken aback. " Wait a minute, if you are not going to create a cure, then…"

" Relax, let me explain," Mercury said. He had emptied a bottle of tablets and was in the process of crushing them with the butt of a glass bottle. " It is practically impossible to make an antidote or a vaccine to destroy the virus. I've already explained earlier, you would need to have a high-tech lab to do that, which we don't have. What I am doing here is making a serum that will inhibit the virus. It does not cure him, it just makes the virus temporary useless in his body. This is only a temporary measure, and a vaccine will need to be administrated when we do get off this island, but this will have to do right now."

Kimmy nodded, not too bothered with whatever method Mercury uses, as long as Max will live. Kimmy saw Mercury start his work. Using small empty bottles, he started pouring the specific fluids into each bottle. It was also mixed with some powder obtained from the crushed tablets. He poured out another bottle and started crushing other pieces of tablets into very fine pieces.

Kimmy looked around. Phoenix was nowhere to be seen.

---

Phoenix did not like what he saw. Crouching behind the dispensary counter and looking from the side where the door had broken apart, he had a good view of the hospitals front entrance.

Five stealthy figures, all armed with rifles and donning Kevlar vests, slowly made their way inside the hospital. They moved quietly along, spreading out slightly to search the area. Phoenix had all the reason to suspect that they had followed them here, and they were not here for a friendly occasion. They occasionally took cover behind walls and pillars once in a while, signaling that they were trying to avoid being shot at. They either had to be very dumb, since zombies don't use guns, or they were expecting another sort of enemy.

Phoenix slowly made his way back to the storage room where Mercury was bending over the floor with an array of bottles surrounding him. Kimmy looked up worriedly as they entered.

" We've got company…" Phoenix whispered.

" God, zombies…" Kimmy gasped.

" Worse, Navy Seals…" Phoenix said. He saw Kimmy's eyes widen in shock. Mercury however looked impassive.

" Why are they here?" Kimmy asked.

" Somehow I think they are here to kill us. Matches your government hostility theory," Phoenix said.

" That was not a theory. It was a fact," Mercury shot back.

" Whatever it is, they aren't here to welcome us. It won't be long before they realize we are here. We can take them by surprise, but we are still slightly out-numbered," Phoenix said.

Mercury did not reply. He just started mixing several solutions together. Phoenix and Kimmy watched as he poured out a pinkish looking liquid into a transparent bottle. He then screwed it tightly with a cap and held it out to Phoenix while saying " Here, take this and throw it at the front entrance. After that, fire and break down the glass door in front."

" And why the fuck would I want to do that?" Phoenix demanded.

" Just trust me. It'll take too long to explain," Mercury said.

Phoenix was far from being convinced, so Kimmy took it up to herself to do the task. Taking the bottle from Mercury's hand, she slowly crawled to the front dispensary desk, closely followed by Phoenix, who kept saying that he did not like this idea. Kimmy took no notice of his words. With one fluid motion, she threw the bottle into the air.

The Navy Seals saw the small bottle sailing in the air and somehow mistook it for a grenade. All five of the dived out of the way as the bottle came crashing down on the floor, shattering to bits and sending the liquid inside the bottle splashing everywhere. Before the Navy Seals could react, Kimmy took this chance to raise her pistol and fire repeatedly at the front door. The glass door shattered immediately, not before the Navy Seals opened fire at them.

Phoenix and Kimmy dropped behind the desk as they opened fire at them. The firestorm was enormous, almost deafening them as the sounds of machinegun fire echoed loudly around them. Bits and pieces of wood and tiles rained down on them as the Navy Seals started to rip the desk to bits.

" I told you whatever it was it was a fucking bad idea!" Phoenix yelled over the din, although he was not sure Mercury heard it.

" And I told you to trust me," Mercury yelled back through the din, not sounding very alarmed.

---

The two Navy Seals approached the corner with caution. A quick outside check told them that this small corridor where their target was hiding lead to an emergency exit to the outside. Their target was still hiding, since they did not hear the sound of any door opening. They knew they had their target, but they still proceeded with utmost caution, taking one step at a time. Their target was unarmed, and there was no way he could go up against to rifles with his bare fists.

The two Navy Seals stopped when they heard an unfamiliar hissing sound. A second later, a small cloud of white smoke started to fill up the corridor. The Navy Seals started to back up as the smoke threatened to consume them.

However, they realized something. Their target had actually discharged the fire extinguisher, and he was blowing the fumes in an attempt to blind them, although they almost wanted to laugh at his attempt. It was a good, and desperate idea, but unfortunately, the white fumes range was limited. Both the Navy Seals walked backwards and took up positions at the junction of the corridor, staying in the pool area. As expected, the white fumes from the fire extinguisher had a limited range, pouring out into the pool area and disappearing. As long as they kept their distance, the 'smoke bomb' would have no chance to blind them and it also gave them a clear view just in case their target decided to burst out of the white smog.

Soon enough, the hissing sound stopped and the white cover started to disperse. They realized their target was lost. The best weapon he had now was probably the empty fire extinguisher. One of the Navy Seals nodded towards his partner. His partner nodded in reply as the first moved forward to attack while his partner stayed behind to cover his back. The Navy Seal jumped forward, his rifle raised as the emergency exit corridor came to full view. Save for a fire extinguisher left on the floor, it was empty. A belt was tied tightly to the trigger of the object.

" What is it?" the second asked, seeing his partner's hesitation.

" He's gone," the second said. _Is this guy some kind of magician skilled in disappearing acts?_

" What?"

" He disappeared, that's what I mean," the second replied.

They were so shocked by this that they did not notice a figure rise from the pool area. A large figure rose like a shadow, swiftly emerging from the pool. The second Navy Seal barely heard the sound of dripping water in time as he felt Dalton's arms wrap around his tightly.

The fire extinguisher's range was fortunately enough to reach the swimming pool. Unbeknown to the two Navy Seals, Dalton slipped unnoticed by them and slowly and quietly slipped himself into the pool area. He submerged himself in the water to hide himself as the Navy Seals moved in to what they thought would be a kill. Dalton was quite surprised that he was able to pull this off. Now, with the upper hand, Dalton was not about to blow his chance.

He grabbed the trigger of the rifle and pulled hard, even though the Navy Seal tried to resist him. The rifle fired, several bullets hitting the other Navy Seal. He gave a groan of pain as he dropped to his knees as the rifle stopped firing, out of ammunition.

He was now in his element. Dalton had his own experience in close quarter combat, and he is a rather versatile wrestler. Twisting himself around, he locked his arms around the man with his back towards his. With a surge of strength, Dalton lifted him over his head and tossed him into the pool. The man fell in with a splash, his equipment weighing him down.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped in and landed on the man underwater with such force that he knocked the wind out of the unfortunate fellow. Temporarily stunned, Dalton used this chance to grapple the man and press him under. The man tried to struggle, but Dalton was much stronger than him now after knocking the wind out of him and he had his two feet planted on the pool floor. The man did not struggle for long. He stopped, then the rigors set in for several seconds before he stopped moving altogether. Dalton checked his pulse to make sure before releasing him.

As he released the man, he contemplated his kill. This was not a zombie, but a human being. Dalton had killed once before when he was young, but that was a time when he was still roaming the streets as a vagabond. This was different. However, he just shrugged. After all, this man tried to kill him first and if Dalton did not reverse the order, he knew very well he would be next.

As he was about to pull himself out of the pool, he heard what sounded like Iris's scream.

---

The Navy Seals continued their barrage of fire, making sure to keep their attack constant. Both Phoenix and Kimmy cringed as the Navy Seals continued to pour heavy fire towards them, smashing the desk they were covering themselves with to bits. Splinters of wood and small pieces of tiles rained down on them as the sound of gunfire roared all around them.

" Whatever you had in mind doesn't seem to be working!" Phoenix reminded. He just hoped that the Navy Seals would not use grenades to snuff them out. He badly wanted to return fire, but with the intense barrage of bullets flying his way, he could not get the chance unless he risked the chance of getting shot at.

" Just a little longer…" came the reply from the storage room, although Mercury's voice sounded very soft among the din.

Kimmy wondered how much longer could they wait when all of a sudden, the firing stopped. The hospital suddenly kept quiet, a rather eerie sepulchral feeling. Phoenix knew better than to think the Navy Seals thought they had hit their targets. Either they were just waiting for a reaction, or something else caught their attention. Almost as soon as they stopped firing, they started again, but it was to Phoenix's and Kimmy's surprise that their attack this time was not aimed at them. No bullets came flying their way. Phoenix slowly looked up from his cover to take a look at what was happening.

At the entrance of the hospital were Kimmy had shot down the automatic glass door, a whole load of zombies came rushing in, their arms outstretched and their teeth gnashing furiously. It was this group that the Navy Seals are concentration fire at. The first line of zombies fell from the attack of the Navy Seals , but there were more than enough zombies behind the first line to keep them busy.

Kimmy remembered Mercury mentioning that the zombies' olfactory senses were still working, and whatever he had asked them to throw attracted the zombies like moth to a flame. Mercury's plan in using the zombies to their advantage was a good plan, but Kimmy could not see how they were going to escape from this area when the zombies were surrounding the place.

" Nice plan, but how the hell are we going to get out of here?" Phoenix yelled at Mercury, having the same thoughts as Kimmy. Mercury did not reply, so he called out again. Still not reply.

" You better check and see if he is alright. I'll keep and eye on the proceedings here," Phoenix said. Kimmy nodded and slowly, she crawled back inside, mindful to keep her head low as she returned inside the storage area.

" Mercury…? Hey, answer me, damn it!" Kimmy cried. She could see Mercury behind one of the shelves, his back slightly jutting out from the corner. However, at this distance, he should have heard her. Her mind immediately assumed the worse as she ran up to him.

" Mercury!" she exclaimed, running in front of him.

" Huh? What?" Mercury asked, looking up at her with a rather dazed look. Kimmy immediately saw why. Having found a small knife somewhere, he had used it to slit his wrist and from the wound, he was pouring out his blood the best he could into a bottle. His face seemed to have lost some colour and the lost of blood probably affected his senses.

" Are you crazy? What are you trying to do? Kill yourself?" Kimmy yelled, shocked. She tried to stop him, but Mercury shook her off.

" You don't understand. I need to do this. If I wanted to commit suicide, I would have chosen a much less painful way to do so," Mercury said. He winced as he spoke, his vision blurring slightly. Deciding he had enough blood, he stopped himself. He started to cleanse his wound and when he looked up, Kimmy was back with a roll of bandages.

" Thanks…" Mercury said softly, as Kimmy quickly bandaged his wrists. She did not do it properly. The bandage was folded over each other, making the cloth look bulky on Mercury's arm. He did not mind it though, as he cut off the end and made a tight not.

" What was all that for? You can't seriously tell me that's to make a serum!" Kimmy demanded.

" Well, you are half correct actually…" Mercury said weakly.

" Half correct?"

" I already told you that I'm rather resistant towards the virus. By mixing it with these stuff here, I hope that somehow that my blood can sort of inhibit the virus for a while. These crummy medicine that is being stocked here can only prolong his life for a few hours. This is the quickest and surest way to help him. There is about a one in a million chance that my blood can completely neutralize the virus in him, but I'm not hoping for that," Mercury explained. He was now mixing his blood into several bottles he had prepared.

" What about blood type compatibility?" Kimmy asked.

" Relax, I'm a universal donor," Mercury calmly replied.

" What's the other half?" Kimmy asked.

" Strange thing is, when blood is burned with some chemicals, strangely enough, it will deter zombies from approaching," Mercury replied.

" You plan to burn this stuff along with your blood to keep zombies away?" Kimmy asked.

" Yes, and now since you are here, you can help me stuff those bandages into those bottles," Mercury replied, pushing towards her several empty bottles.

" What for?"

" Just do as I say, will you?"

---

Phoenix fired several shots , aiming carefully before firing . His shots most of the time hit their marks: the middle of the zombie's forehead.

Phoenix carefully weighed his actions. The zombies were coming in an on-coming storm, and it would not be long before the Navy Seals would be overwhelmed as they run out of ammunition. It surprised Phoenix at first when the Navy Seals did not back off and run towards the back of the hospital to escape the zombies. Phoenix guessed that they were afraid that Phoenix would take a shot at them, since running towards the inner areas of the hospital gave Phoenix a clear shot of them if they moved in the open.

He decided to take off some pressure of the Navy Seals by killing off some zombies. If they really needed to get out of here, Phoenix would just need to hit them in the back. Leaving them alone will only quicken the entry of the zombies, something he was eager to avoid.

Reloading a fresh clip into his rifle, he raised his rifle once again, but he stopped himself from firing as he saw a familiar figure walking across the hospital lobby. It was hard not to miss the tough, black leathery exterior of the hunter.

The hunter had not noticed Phoenix behind the counter, but it has sure noticed the five Navy Seals firing at the zombies. It moved slowly, dragging its feet along the way as it stealthily moved across the floor. It looked like it was contemplating its kill, five people with their backs towards it was just a moment to savour for the hunter, and it just seemed to be doing that. It stretched its claws slightly, then gave a low growl, which the Navy Seals were to preoccupied to hear.

Just as the hunter was about to pounce, Phoenix gave a loud yell. The hunter spun around, surprised as it saw Phoenix behind the counter. Before it could decide what to do next, a Navy Seal had spotted its presence. Warning his other fellow compatriots, all five turned around and fired at the same time. The hunter lurched backwards as it got hit by bullet after bullet, flying in the air and falling down in a heap, dead.

It was not the end of their problems. A couple of hunters came out from behind the back, followed by several others from all over. Phoenix even noticed one, surprisingly, coming out of the female toilet. All of them gave a tremendous howl as they swarmed in for the attack.

The Navy Seals saw a no-win situation when they saw it. As soon as the hunters charged, the scattered into all directions while continually firing their weapons. One of them was in such a panic, he turned 180 degrees around and ran into the open arms of the zombies. He screamed in horror and pain as the zombies converged around him for a feast. His machine guns chatter stopped after it was empty.

Another made his way down the lobby, which was a stupid move as three hunters moved in around him. With superb accuracy, two of them leaped at him and sank their claws into his elbow joints before pulling it away, ripping his arm way from his joint. Phoenix watched without flinching as they cut off his arms, blood rushing around from the severed joints. He did not get to scream in time as the third lobbed his head off. Even before the body dropped to the floor, the hunters savagely ripped his body to shreds.

All the other Navy Seals made their way to safety, running into other areas and rooms with at least a hunter close behind. The rest of the hunters launched themselves towards the zombies, cutting them down like logs. The head of the decapitated Navy Seal bounced and rolled to where Phoenix was. He merely looked at it, seeing the man's eyes opened in sheer terror and his mouth wide open for a scream.

A howl made him look up. One of the hunters had spotted him and was running towards him. As it leaped up with its arms stretched backwards, Phoenix fired, pulling the trigger hard and exhausting half his load into the creature. It gave a sort of muffle gasping sound, which made Phoenix chuckle, before crashing down on the floor right in front of where Phoenix was hiding.

He dropped back down, hoping no other hunter had caught him in the act. There was the sound of the hunters ripping out flesh, and it sounded very gruesome in his ears, expect there was no screaming in pain since the zombies were dumb dead beings. He heard a loud howl somewhere which was silenced halfway, signaling that another Navy Seal had succumbed to the claws of the hunter.

Phoenix then wondered if the hunters' sudden intrusion was caused by Mercury. The stuff they threw probably attracted the zombies, but it might have caused the hunters to arrive as well. " That guy is insane…" Phoenix said under his breath.

At that very moment, a hunter leaped over the desk he was covering himself with landing a feet in front of Phoenix. He wasted no time in emptying his gun into the hunter.


	26. Chapter 23: Adrenaline Rush

**Chapter 23: Adrenaline Rush**

Iris heard the sound of someone entering the restroom, but she was quite sure that it was not Rick or Vanessa or Dalton.

Earlier when she entered, she saw a bag full of swimming equipment left at a corner in the restroom. From it, she found a large T-shirt that fitted her and a towel. She immediately took off her greasy and dirty clothes, looking towards the entrance of the restroom just in case Dalton decided to make an entrance. Careful to leave her undergarments on, she walked towards the last cubicle of the restroom and entered.

She sighed in relief as she felt the hot water soak her skin. The hot water that fell on her skin refreshed her, and she felt her body being rejuvenated by it. She stated to clean herself the best she could, rubbing her skin to remove whatever dirt she could until she heard the sounds of a shotgun being discharged.

She immediately turned off the tap and listened. The loud shot was quickly followed by several others coming from a rifle. A pair of footsteps ran pass the restroom and after while, two others followed suit before she heard the rifles being fired again. Alarmed at the sudden event, she immediately wiped herself dry and donned her clothes. She then realized that she left her pants outside, but luckily, the T-shirt was large enough to cover up to her upper thighs, though it was not enough to cover the rest of her coltish legs.

All of a sudden, someone entered the restroom. Iris was about to call out when she heard the faint sound of a rifle being cocked. Iris held her breath as she heard footsteps coming closer and closer to her.

She jumped in fright as there was a loud hollow crash, the sound of the cubicle door being kicked open. After a while, the sound repeated itself again, but this time it sounded closer. Iris realized that the Navy Seal was slowly looking for her. The third door was kicked open.

Iris tried to force her body to move, but she was shaking in fright. After the fourth door was kicked open, she knew hers was next.

-

A Navy Seal walked in the restroom, carefully looking around. He had clearly heard the sound of water running inside before it was switched off, thus there must be someone inside. To prove his point, there was a messy pair of long pants and a greasy shirt by the side that belonged to a female that was recently placed there. He involuntarily broke into a grin as he walked towards the cubicles.

All the doors of the five cubicles were closed. The Navy Seal slowly took his time, moving slowly. He kicked the first door open. The cubicle was empty. He expected as much. He figured that whoever was inside was in the last cubicle. He kicked the second door open. Nobody was inside.

After he kicked the fourth door open and seeing that it was empty, he knew the last one was occupied. Deciding to play with his victim, he raised his gun and prepared to fire. The thin plastic door will not serve as a suitable armour against rifle bullets. As he was about to pull the trigger, the sound of rifle fire from somewhere else distracted him. He hesitated for a while to long.

Iris immediately burst out of the door. The Navy Seal grunted in pain, dropping his rifle to the floor, as the cubicle's door swung open and smashed him squarely on his nose. He reeled back in pain, clutching his bleeding nose as Iris pushed her way out. She was only a few steps out when she felt an arm encircle her, grabbing her from behind and squeezing on her breasts. She reacted at once. Her arm swung backwards, hitting the man right at the soft tissue of his groin. The Navy Seal immediately released her after the powerful hit on his balls.

Iris tore out of the restroom immediately. As she stepped out, there was a click of a gun and she froze at the sound. Another Navy Seal was situated outside, his rifle aimed at her. Before she could react, someone grabbed her from behind and before she could make contact again with his crotch, the Navy Seal pinned her to the ground, pressing down on her back painfully.

" My balls are killing me," the man spat savagely, his voice dripping with menace. " Maybe I should fuck you to teach you a lesson."

Iris whimpered at the threat. The man started pulling up her shirt. She felt cold as the air touched her wet skin, making her shiver slightly.

" Hey, you were ordered to take them out, not to fuck them," the other said.

" Shut up, she punched my balls. I'm going to fuck her before I kill her," he said.

" Whatever…argh!"

The Navy Seal on top of Iris looked up immediately to see what had caused his partner to cry out in alarm. A pair of hands emerged from the pool, grabbing the man's legs firmly before pulling them, toppling the man on the floor, the rifle being flung away as the man fell. Someone rose from the water of the pool, rising like some underwater creature from the deep.

Dripping wet, Dalton moved with nimble agility towards the Navy Seal pinning Iris to the floor. Before he could even get up, Dalton grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up. He pushed him towards the wall and smashed his face, more blood spurting out of his already broken nose.

" You alright?" Dalton asked.

" I'm fine…watch out!" Iris exclaimed.

The two Navy Seals got to their feet, combat knives in their hands. Dalton was unfazed. They wanted to circle him to surround him, but being so close to the pool area cut off their fighting area, so they lunged at him.

Dalton sidestepped the first attacker, spinning around to give a chop on the back of his neck. The second moved in quickly, wanting to use the first attacks distraction to his advantage. Dalton felt the blade draw a line across his cheek, burning painfully. However, he pushed the pain out of his system. As the Navy Seal thrust his knife forward, Dalton spun aside and grabbed the man's arm, gripping it tightly under his armpit. With a sickening tug to the right, Dalton snapped the man's forearm in two.

The first Navy Seal that Dalton attacked was had already recovered. Seeing Dalton grappling with his partner, he turned his attention to Iris, whose eyes widened in fear seeing the man eyeing her. Dalton saw his motives immediately. He slammed his elbow into the man's midsection to send him reeling backwards before lunging at the other who was about to pounce on Iris.

Dalton collided with the man just before he was about to grab Iris. Grabbing him in a bear hug, both Dalton and the man rolled on the cold, wet floor. Dalton suddenly felt strong powerful hands reach out from nowhere and twisted him around. Dalton lost his grip and he felt himself flying in the air before feeling his back hitting the hard floor, knocking the wind out of him.

Still winded, the Navy Seal now grappled Dalton from behind, reaching beneath his armpits and crossing his hands and pressing them on Dalton's head, forcing him into a bind. Try as he might, he was unable to move his arms now. As he tried to struggle to free himself, the Navy Seal whom he broke his arm was now standing up. Dalton's eyes widened as he saw the gleaming blade in the man's hands.

The man moved quickly despite the throbbing pain he felt in his arm. The knife flashed forward, thrusting itself towards Dalton's stomach. However, the knife suddenly fell short of the range, dropping suddenly as it was inches from Dalton's body.

Iris had reached out and grabbed the man by the foot, making him fall the floor. Before the man could even recover, she stomp her foot down hard on the man's scrotum, again. He gave a howl of pain, grabbing his privates and rolling over.

Dalton took this chance given to him to free himself. He twisted his leg to the back, hooking onto the Navy Seal's ankle. Before the Navy Seal could comprehend what Dalton was doing, Dalton gave his leg a powerful tug. However, the Navy Seal was rather prepared. He cushioned Dalton's pull by dropping to his knees, making Dalton lose leverage on his foot while still keeping a strong grip on him.

However, Dalton had other ideas. Since the man had dropped to his knees, Dalton had a much more firm footing on the floor now with the lowered drop. Buckling his legs as far as he could go, he launched himself to the right, towards the wall along with the Navy Seal. He used the man to cushion his impact as they smashed into the wall. The man took most of the impact, releasing Dalton.

Dalton got to his feet and grabbed the man by his hair. With a ferocious energy flowing through him now, he slammed the man's head as hard as he could into the wall. A small bloody spot formed on the wall, dripping slowly downwards as Dalton pulled the man's head back to observe his work. He continued to smash the man's head upon the wall till his face was a bloody pulp. He dropped the man on the floor, his skull obviously broken and dead.

He picked up one of the knives that had fallen to the floor and slowly walked up to the other man. Iris stepped back in slight apprehension as Dalton knelt down on the man, pressing his hand on the man's shoulder. Like a cold, heartless executioner, he slit the man's throat.

Iris recoiled as the knife brushed itself over the man's neck, the knife cutting through the man's neck. Blood started spraying everywhere as Dalton severed his arteries, coating him in the man's blood. Dalton got off him as the man slowly died, gargling in his own blood. His body shook slightly, and then slowed to a stop.

" Don't move," a voice ordered, which was followed by a click of a gun.

Dalton and Iris looked up. A wounded Navy Seal, probably the one where Dalton shot with the rifle, stood in front of them, a pistol raised at their chests. He was bleeding profoundly, bright red drops falling from his body, but his constitution was strong enough to make him stand. Apparently, his vest had absorbed most of the damage that is going to spare him a quick death.

" Drop the knife," he ordered.

Dalton immediately obeyed, the knife falling from his fingers and dropping with a clang on the floor. He raised his hands in submission and stepped backwards. He had exerted himself far more than he thought he could possibly go. He was too tired to put up a fight and he doubted he was even good at knife throwing. He was careful to walk in between Iris and the man, shielding her from the gun.

The man looked at them resolutely, then raised his gun to Dalton's head. Dalton closed his eyes. The last thing he wanted to see was the discharge of the gun blowing his brains out.

The was a loud echoing bang, and Dalton shook as he heard it, knowing it was the sound that was going to bring him relief. Somehow, he did not feel any pain, yet he did not feel dead, which was rather impossible if he was shot. He slowly opened his eyes, fearful that he was feeling things differently.

The man was still aiming his gun to his head. The only difference now was that he wore an expression of utter disbelief and a bullet hole to his head. He seems to hang in air for some time, then slowly dropped to his knees before collapsing to the floor in a heap.

" Cool!" Rick exclaimed, a pistol in his hands. Dalton and Iris spotted him standing behind the Navy Seal. Vanessa emerged from her hiding place at a restroom and came to join her brother. " My first shot!"

Dalton did not know what to say. The kid had just killed the man without as much as flinching.

_Kids are so violently orientated these days…not that I'm going to complain of course._

Dalton cropped to the ground, thoroughly exhausted. Iris ran up to Rick and spoke a few words to him. Dalton tried to catch his breath, hoping this was all over already.

---

Phoenix grunted as his rifle ran out of ammunition. He tossed the now useless weapon aside and pulled out his Desert Eagle.

Pandemonium was still raging behind the counter. The hunters were running about, slashing viciously at the hapless zombies now that they have successfully ripped the Navy Seals apart. Although most were too preoccupied with the zombies, a number of them caught wind of where Phoenix was hiding and kept him sort of occupied. One of them was now standing on top of the desk Phoenix was hiding behind, howling loudly into his ear.

He discharged his weapon twice into the hunter's legs, making fall to its knees. It crumpled onto the desk as Phoenix blew out its kneecaps. A shot to its head blew its brains apart. Phoenix pushed the corpse off the desk, not wanting it to bleed all over the place.

He fired at another one who was walking aimlessly around the lobby and just came into Phoenix's line of sight. It gave a short gargle as it choked in its own blood as Phoenix emptied his gun into him. He dropped his now empty bullet magazine and loaded a fresh clip. It was when he realized he had about three more clips left.

He slowly crept to the back of the storage room to check on Mercury's progress. It was to his surprise that he saw Mercury prepare a whole number of bottles. Five of them had bandages stuffed into it and was filled in what looked like paste. There were about ten smaller bottles which contained what suspiciously looked like the stuff Kimmy threw to attract the zombies and hunters. There was a lone bottle that looked like blood, although Phoenix could not be sure.

" You are going to pump all this shit into Max?" Phoenix asked incredulously.

" Not all, only this," Mercury said, tapping the bottle that contained what looked like blood.

" Did you just cut yourself?" Phoenix asked again, looking at the badly bandaged wrist Mercury had. " Wait, is that your blood?"

" A mixture of it," Kimmy replied. Phoenix did not know how Mercury's blood was going to help, but under such circumstances, he was not going to ask.

" Syringes, we need syringes," Mercury said, taking all the bottles and stuffing it in whatever pockets his attire had.

" There are no syringes here. We would need to head to another place," Kimmy said.

" Hey, no need. The Navy Seals have supplied us with what we need," Phoenix said. Kimmy and Mercury looked at Phoenix as he retrieved several syringes from his vest. He had three of them.

" Perfect! That will save us the trouble," Mercury said. He hobbled out of the room, obviously weak from the loss of blood. Both Kimmy and Phoenix supported him by placing his arms over their shoulders. All three of them moved out of the storage room and into the fray that was going on outside.

The hunters had not noticed their emergence. Phoenix raised his gun at them and was about to fire when Mercury stopped him, pulling him hard.

" Don't, I have a better idea," Mercury said. He dug into his pocket and retrieved six small bottles containing pink liquid.

" Throw these at them and we will be alright," Mercury said.

Phoenix and Kimmy looked at each other, before shrugging and deciding to follow Mercury's plan. Taking three bottles each, they took aim and threw all their bottles in succession.

Three hunters spun around on them as some of the six bottles thrown landed perfectly on their skulls, drenching them in whatever liquid that was contained in the bottles. They spotted the three of them by the corner, but before they could even attack, other hunters gave loud yells and leaped at them. The hunters then started fighting against themselves, slashing each other. While the hunters were busy fighting amongst themselves, the three of them slipped away from the mess.

Kimmy was grinning. The hunters fighting among themselves were the most hilarious thing she had seen all day. Due to that, she did not notice the shocked looks on Phoenix and Mercury's faces as they saw a hunter leap at her from the right.

Phoenix instantly pushed both of them down as he raised his gun at the hunter and fired. He managed to get several shots of it, but he was unable to stop it from slashing him. It knocked him to the ground, before several shots from Kimmy's pistol managed to bring it down.

" Phoenix!" Kimmy cried, rushing to him immediately.

" Fuck!" he groaned.

He was fine actually. The slash merely grazed his vest, but he was unharmed. However, the slash had effectively ripped his vest pocket apart, and the syringes that it contained were now beyond repair. Kimmy gave a short gasp as Phoenix dug out the broken remains of the syringes from his pocket.

" Shit!" Kimmy cried.

" Now what?" Phoenix exclaimed.

" We need to go back in!" Kimmy stated. She was about to bolt for the door when Mercury grabbed her and held her back.

" Don't, it's suicide!" Mercury cried. Kimmy did not seem to listen.

" I know Max is important to you, but this is useless Kimmy," Mercury said more forcefully now. Despite having lost blood, he found the strength to pulled Kimmy back several feet away from the entrance of the hospital.

It was all that was needed for her to go berserk. She started lashing out violently at Mercury, willing him to release her. Phoenix stopped her just in time before she really inflict serious damage to Mercury. It was until she saw him groaning in pain and dropping to his knees before she regretted her action.

" Oh God…I'm so sorry…" Kimmy apologized, wondering what she had done.

" It's okay…I can't believe it has came to this…" Mercury said, looking at the hospital. The hunters were still inside and they were just too worn out to give another attempt to search for a syringe. Both Phoenix and Kimmy picked Mercury up and all of them headed back to their sanctuary.

---

Max looked much worse now. His entire body turned into a shade of purple now, and his veins were looking very sickly. His fever had shot up tremendously, and he was making pitiful moaning sounds. Iris observed him from afar, wishing somehow she could do something that could help.

She looked up at Dalton as he placed all the weapons he could salvage from the Navy Seals that they had killed. As he placed the rifles to the side, they heard the sound of the front door opening. Dalton whirled around, his shotgun ready, but he immediately lowered it when she saw Phoenix and Kimmy help Mercury inside. He immediately rushed to his friend, whom he saw was not in a very good shape.

" Mercury, damn it, you look bad!" he exclaimed. He gave Kimmy a dirty look. " Did she beat you or what?"

Kimmy was about to give back a reply when Mercury intervened by saying " No, Dalton, she didn't do anything."

" What the fuck happened here?" Phoenix exclaimed. Exhausted as he was, he was still quick enough to notice a number of bullet holes in the wall and noticeable amount of blood all over the place. The pool now looked slightly pinkish as it was adulterated with blood.

" Navy Seals…" Dalton replied, looking at the reaction from the three of them. " Yeah, they attacked us earlier."

" We encountered something similar…" Mercury replied. They were cut off from talking further when Rick suddenly shouted loudly.

" They're back!" Rick exclaimed joyously, jumping to his feet. " Yahoo, Max is going to be saved!"

However, Phoenix and Kimmy eased Mercury onto a chair and laid him on it. Phoenix then dropped next to Mercury and Kimmy followed, although she started sobbing, burying her hands in her face.

" Hey, we can't save him?" Rick asked, his face falling.

" Yes…" Mercury replied.

" Why not?" Iris asked.

" We don't have syringes, and the closest place to get them is now surrounded by a bunch of hunters, and frankly, I just don't have the will to go find one now," Phoenix groaned, throwing his head back in disgust. They had risk their lives and supplies to save Max, but it was all futile now. He felt totally frustrated after going through all that. He just wanted to blame Kimmy. If she had seen the hunter coming, then it probably wouldn't have a chance at damaging the syringes. But, seeing her cry at the side, he knew he was unfair to himself.

" Is syringes all you need?" Rick asked, his voice sounding joyous once again.

The rest of them looked at the young teenager who seemed to be brimming with hope. Kimmy wondered if it was just too much to hope for.

" Yes, that is all we need. You have it?" Phoenix exclaimed.

" Yeah, I do!" Rick exclaimed. He took up one of their supply bags and dug into it for a while. Everybody stared, shell-shocked, as Rick took out a small, cylindrical object from the bag, the needle still attached.

There was a cry of joy as everyone ran up to Rick and lifted him up. They started swapping hugs and kisses, and all of them were crying for sometime, unable to fathom their good luck.

" Rick, where did you get this?" Kimmy asked, tears streaking down her face.

" Well, during our duration in the train, Max apparently reorganized our stuff. He also dumped all the stuff he had on his vest that was of no use into this bag. He had a couple of syringes with him," Rick beamed.

Iris immediately took the syringe and asked Mercury for whatever that was needed to be administered. Mercury passed her a small bottle that contained what looked like blood. Iris was apprehensive about injecting such a substance into Max, but she did not question him.

" Where should I inject?" she asked as she sucked the liquid up into the syringe.

" His shoulder. 5mls should do the trick," Mercury said.

Iris pushed the needle of the syringe into one of Max's skin. After she was sure it had entered his veins, she administered Mercury's serum into Max's veins. The bloodlike liquid entered Max's body. He winced slightly, but nothing else happened.

" Well, what now?" Dalton asked. They were hoping for an instant result, but it was too much to ask for. But seeing nothing happen somehow dampened the celebrative spirit they just found earlier.

" We wait…" Mercury concluded.

-

Max was apparently bright enough to pack some food from the train. The rest of them went through their reserves, eating something to fill their hungry bodies. They did not fell hungry, exhaustion and all the stress having effectively canceled out their hunger, but they decided to eat to keep their bodies going. And the alcohol they brought helped to warm their bodies tremendously.

" Nothing's happening…" Kimmy said after what was a long moment of silence between them. It had been over an hour. Max did not turn into a darker shade of purple anymore, but he still looked sickly, which was not a good sign.

The others said nothing. They munched their food silently, looking blankly all around, not sure what to say to one another.

" Mercury…" she said.

" Yes?"

" I promise I won't kill you if he doesn't make it," she said. This made everyone laugh, despite the situation. However, the joked cooled off immediately.

" I'm sorry, I wish I could have done something more," Mercury said.

" You've done enough…I just hope he doesn't die…" Kimmy said, burying her head again.

" Hell, I think I am going to die. Can one of you spare me a blanket? It's damn cold without my shirt on!"


	27. Chapter 24: Private Talks

**Chapter 24: Private Talks**

" Oh my God, Max, you are alright?" Kimmy cried, going up to him. He was quite awake now, and although he still looked weak, it seems like some strength has return to his body. He tried to get up, but the rest of them made sure he didn't.

" Well, I feel alright now. Jesus, what kind of stuff did you give me? Steroids?" Max asked, clearly surprised that he was quite well.

" Better than that," Mercury replied. Almost all of them burst out laughing. Max looked at them quizzically, no understanding the joke.

" Relax, dude. My pal Mercury just made and administered a serum he made into you earlier. It was to suppress the virus for some time being, and it looks like its working better than expected," Dalton grinned.

" Suppressed? So, the virus is still in my body?" Max asked.

" Yes, and we will need to administer a vaccine to cure you when we do get off. The minimum time this serum can last is 48 hours, at my best guess," Mercury replied.

" 48 hours? Can you make a vaccine by then?" Max exclaimed.

Mercury took out a small bottle which contained a liquid that looks similar to blood. " If you use 5mls a shot, there is enough here to last you a several months. That will be long enough, I hope…"

Max sighed loudly and dropped his head back to the floor, then started laughing for a while. " Well, it's good to be alive," he said. He stopped laughing when he felt his lungs hurt.

" Looks like Max is fine now. Since it's already nightfall and everyone is beat, I suggest that we take a short rest here till dawn, at least. We'll organize our stuff and sort out our things, then get some rest. We'll head out the first thing in the morning to the designated harbour. Alright with that?" Phoenix suggested, standing up. The rest nodded in unison.

" Fine then. Dalton, help me organize the weapons you got," Phoenix said. Dalton dropped his shotgun by the side and went to the pile of rifles and ammunition he took from the Navy Seals that assaulted the place. Mercury walked off to take a rest by the side, the lost of blood draining him almost completely. Iris helped herself to more food, giving some of them to Rick and Vanessa.

Only Kimmy still stayed by Max's side, looking at the on-goings of the rest of the survivors. She felt a hand embracing hers softly. Looking down, she saw Max smiling to her.

" Hey, have you been crying?" Max asked, seeing her slightly damp and reddened eyes. Kimmy laughed, trying to wipe away her tears.

" Well, slightly, I guess," she replied.

" Thanks a lot," Max said.

" What for?"

" For helping me out. It's good to know that you care about me…" Max said. Kimmy looked away, blushing slightly.

" Um…sorry, I have a habit of speaking out cheesy lines in situations like this," Max said.

" That's alright," Kimmy said.

" That reminds me: I haven't thanked Mercury for saving my life. Whatever he gave me was brilliant. And he looks weak. Did you beat him up again?" Max asked, raising his eyebrows.

" Well, yes, but that's not why he's in such a bad shape," Kimmy confessed.

" Right, go apologize to him right now," Max demanded.

" What?"

" I said go and say that you are sorry. You've been very harsh against him, and even though he saved my life, all you did was beat him up. Now, go apologize to him," Max said.

" What are you…?"

" Go, or I'm not going to speak to you…" Max said, trying to sound stern but his serious face was about as funny as a clown.

" What the…oh, hell!" Kimmy muttered under her breath as she got to her feet.

-

" How are you feeling?"

" A bit dizzy, I suppose, and weak. But, I guess I'll manage. I should get some rest soon," Mercury said. He looked up at Kimmy, who was still staring down at him, with a slight look of pity on her face.

" Hmm, you want to get something off your chest?" he prompted.

" Max gives his thanks," Kimmy said curtly.

" That's alright…anything else?" Mercury asked.

Kimmy thought for a while, the scrunched up her face before saying, " Well, I also want to apologize for hitting you earlier even after you were in such a bad shape. I also think that…well, I've been harsh with you throughout the entire trip, hating you and all that. Seeing what you have done and sacrificed tonight, it looks like I've been quite wrong about you…so, I just hope you can accept my apologizes. I know it's only a small condolence for what I did, but…it's the best I can offer you…so…um, I'm sorry."

She sighed, dropping her head, knowing it sounded very silly to Mercury. She avoided looking at him. Mercury tilted his head, somehow finding the statement rather amusing from the soft giggles Kimmy heard coming from him.

" Don't worry about it, Kimmy. I deserved your punches in a way," Mercury said.

Kimmy's jaw dropped, not believing what she was hearing. " What?" she asked incredulously.

" Kimmy, what I've done is just something I felt like doing. I must admit, I'm no saint, and there are things I've done that cannot be atoned by such trivial actions. So, I won't accept your apologizes as I don't deserve them. But, thank you anyway…" Mercury replied, smiling.

Kimmy was dumbstruck. " And what makes you so unworthy?" she asked.

" Have you taken a good look around?" Mercury asked.

" We are in the pool area…"

" No, I meant what is happening around here," Mercury stopped her.

" We are in the middle of an outbreak…"  
" Exactly, Kimmy. And what am I suppose to say to all those people who have turned into zombies? I'm sorry? How about their relatives? The world? I'm sorry? As far as the world, and I, I'm nothing more than a mass murderer who has just wiped out thousands of lives. Sorry won't count as enough, and my lifetime isn't enough to repent for what I have done."

Kimmy was rather lost for words. She understood now Mercury was pained by whatever that was happening now, by a virus he created, unintentionally.

" You made the virus with good intentions…" Kimmy said.

" With good intentions, not doubt, but if it was not because of my damn scientific curiosity this mess would not have happened at all. If I had just decided to destroy all the evidence completely than study it for another 10 minutes, this mess would not have happened," Mercury sighed tiredly.

Mercury turned to look at Kimmy curiously as she sat next to him. " Tell me why you joined Umbrella. You are not as bad as you think you are," she said.

" Long story…and I thought you don't believe me…"

" I do now…and we've got plenty of time," Kimmy said, shrugging her shoulders.

Mercury stared at her for a while with his tinted goggles, then sighed. He moved a little, trying to make himself comfortable as he thought of what to say. Kimmy waited patiently, wanting to hear his story.

" I was a top graduate in my university, a major in chemistry. I was out fresh, feeling like I could change the world, but initially, I had trouble finding a job in my first few years. Some officials approached me and asked if I was interested in accepting a job in a pharmaceutical company, which you can obviously guess what. I accepted the job immediately."

" The working environment was no different like other places. Umbrella was a big producer in medicine, and they have spread over several countries. Their influence was so big that it was thought they had enough resources to buy up a country. No doubt, you probably used an Umbrella product once at least. Raccoon city was highly funded by Umbrella, of course, and it was there where they base many of their projects."

" But I digress. Work was normal, of course. I was a researcher in the medical section, and day in and day out I was toying with all the toys Umbrella had. They had an enourmous budget, I later learned, and they had a lot of technologies the government or other private sectors don't. A reason for this was because they had their own research centre, so they made a few new discoveries once in a while."

" However, I stumbled onto several documents and some areas of the labs sealed off from normal workers. I found it hard to believe that research on producing a virus as a biological weapon had been going on for decades before, back in the 1960s. It was obvious this was the main thing Umbrella invested in, and it was terrible. They had not much success in the early years, but it was obvious that it was just a matter of time before they perfected it as a weapon."

" This first thing was that I wanted to quit at once. I was not one of those crazy insane scientists who love to claim that they study for the sake of science. For the sake of science, some things are best left unstudied. Pharmacy was just a mere cover up for their activities."

" But, I then figured I better stay. Why? It is obvious that Umbrella would one day reach their goal to use viruses effectively as a weapon. It would come out sooner than expected, and I felt that they had to be stopped. But, what was I going to do? Run to the nearest police station and tell then my ex-company I used to work with is creating biological weapons of mass destruction? I needed proof, solid proof in which I can actually present and make people believe. Besides, if I was to do that, I needed insurance. I was privy in Umbrella's organization, and they have a sort of a small army with a technologically advance arsenal."

" So, I expressed interest in what they were actually working on, the viruses. They immediately accepted me into their research group and I studied the viruses they made. It was through this that I saw all the gruesome experiments that Umbrella carried out to achieve their goal: live human experiments, torturous stuff they put some organisms through, all the terrible stuff they put us through. Sometimes I wonder how long my sanity could hold out."

" Of course, after the outbreak, my efforts working in Umbrella were quite wasted, since the world now knows about the viruses, rather prematurely before Umbrella wanted to unveil it, but I still stayed on, learning whatever I could to understand the behaviors of the viruses and its effect upon living beings. About a few months ago, they caught wind of what I was doing, and they decided to use me as a scapegoat to tackle some of their problems. It was a double win for them: it will allow some pressure to be taken off them by letting the public hate me, and it will rid of them a pesky scientist."

" I am not the only one. There were several others convicted, most of them just mere low level employees of Umbrella. Well, effective, no doubt. After all the shit I went through, I'm now a branded criminal. Well, I should be, I guess…"

Kimmy listened to him silently, thoughts pondering in her head.

" I'm sorry to hear that," she said, and meaning it.

" Thank you, and seriously, I don't hate you for punching me…as I said, I probably deserve it," Mercury replied. He turned around, probably wanting to get some rest, but Kimmy was still looking at him. " Well, what is it now?"

" What are you going to do after we get off this island?" Kimmy asked.

" That's an interesting question actually," Mercury replied, getting up. " I haven't actually considered it, putting in mind the fact that I was about to go to the gallows…"

" They were about to hang you? What about the more 'humane method' of injection?" Kimmy ventured.

" Um, yes, I was going to get a shot. That was just a matter of speech," Mercury replied.

" Don't they need a trial for this?" Kimmy asked.

" Well, if you are really famous, or infamous as I should say, there is no need for a fair trial. Besides, ever heard of a fair trial for people like me? The quicker they finish this, the better," Mercury said.

" Anyway, seriously, I haven't thought about it too much. Rightly, there is no place for me to go. I'm wanted by everybody, and if I'm seen, then they'll just realize that I escaped from this island. Granted, they probably won't think I did, unless they saw me. But, anyway, if I really went back to society, then I'll just have to keep in the shadows and blend in," Mercury replied.

" Blend in? How?"

Mercury pointed to his dark, tinted goggles. " Nobody has really seen me without it," Mercury said, tapping the rim of his eyewear.

-

Phoenix walked over to Max and sat down next to him. He was done organizing their weapons. They now had a whole load of supply of ammunition for a number of rifles and handguns, but unfortunately no explosives. He somehow hoped this extra ammo was enough to pull them through. He felt the cold, hard floor hit his rear end as he sat down, with Max turning to look at him.

" How are you feeling?" Phoenix asked passively.

" Well, I feel fine…I think," Max replied. It was followed by a silence between them. Max shifted his head to the side to have a better look at Phoenix. He had an oddly slightly concerned expression etched to his face, something he rarely saw in Phoenix, not that he saw him much.

" Sorry for wanting to shoot you earlier," Phoenix replied. It was a sort of an apology, but from the tone of his voice, Phoenix sounded more contrite than sorry. But Max knew better to rebuke Phoenix.

" Nah, what the heck…no hard feelings," Max replied.

" You're not angry at me?"

" Hey, how can I? Your logic makes sense in a way. Frankly, I'd like to be spared from becoming a zombie. Anyway, thanks for your concern and your help. I appreciate it," Max replied. Phoenix gave a quiet sigh, then rose to leave Max alone. However, Max was not done yet, not by a long shot. His arm quickly shot up, grabbing Phoenix by the arm.

" Hey, I'm not done with you yet. Sit down, I want to talk," Max demanded.

" I thought you need all the rest in the world," Phoenix scoffed.

" That's bullshit, and I'm made of better stuff than you think I'm made off," Max replied. Phoenix gave him a cold glare, before settling down back on the floor.

" What is it that you want?" Phoenix asked.

" Look, from what Iris had told me, you came all the way here to do some mercenary work on escorting her off this island. I've got most of the details from her already. The only thing I don't have is your motive," Max said.

" Motive?"

" Yes, the reason why you even decided to be here. One: you had quit being as mercenary for a long time, staying off the grid in your field of work. I find it highly intriguing that you decided to pick up your rusty skills in a mess like this. Secondly: you are married, and I doubt your wife would allow you to trot around the country escorting someone with the likes of Iris. Now, tell me the real reason why you came," Max explained himself.

" Why do you want to know?"

" Curious, I guess…you know what I am here for, now tell me your reason," Max demanded.

Phoenix was silent. After making up his mind, he searched his pocket for an item. Max saw him pull out a small square piece of paper. It was a picture actually. He handed it to Max. Max took a good look at the picture, then frowned.

" Um, why have you given me a picture of Iris at the beach?" Max asked.

" That's my wife…"

" You're married to Iris?" Max asked incredulously.

" No, you dumb nut. Her name is Sara Corrine, her surname coming from her mother. Iris had a twin, but at birth, they had given Sara up as dead. Somehow or another, they had managed to bring her back to life, but her family had left for Europe after giving her up as dead. So, she ended up at an orphanage and she ended up meeting me," Phoenix explained. " About more than a week ago, I attended her funeral."

Max looked at the picture of Sara, who had a shockingly striking resemblance of Iris, minus the sunglasses she wore. " Um, not the explanation I was hoping for…sorry to hear that."

Max thought for a while. " So, what? You are here to escort Iris because she looks like your wife…."

" It's…more complicated than you think…" Phoenix replied. Max looked at him quizzically.

" Fine, I won't ask…" Max replied.

There was a loud, obnoxious yawn coming from Dalton, causing Iris to scowl at him. " What? I'm tired," Dalton protested, defending himself.

" Can we get some rest?" Rick asked. Vanessa was already quietly asleep, curled up in a fetal position at the side of a wall, a large towel serving her as a blanket.

" We should. We have had a long day, and we need our strength tomorrow. I'll keep watch for the first hour," Phoenix said.

" That is not really necessary," Mercury piped up.

" What are you talking about? There are zombies out there. We wouldn't want to be caught by them while we are napping," Phoenix argued.

Mercury took out several bottles that contained a fluid liquid inside. " Take these outside and throw them as far as you can from the front door. It will keep them away from this place," Mercury said. " Trust me, it'll work," he later added seeing the disbelieving faces of the rest of them.

" We may as well give it a shot. Nobody here is awake enough to keep watch for long," Kimmy said. He took the bottles from Mercury and headed to the front door. Dalton and Iris started laying out towels on the floor to be used as makeshift mattresses. Kimmy was back within several seconds, saying " I threw them as far as I could."

" That should do the trick, I hope," Dalton said, stretching himself on the floor and going quickly to sleep. The rest of them followed suit, laying down on the towels or the chairs by the side and slowly drifting off to sleep.

Phoenix was the only one who was not sure about all this. He stayed awake, just to make sure.


	28. Interlude 3: Decision

**Third Interlude: Decision**

The man sighed and sat back in his chair. He was a grizzled, old man in his 50s, his hair graying significantly already. He had a well-built body and a dark tan from being in the army for years. He stroked his square chin, pondering on what Graham had just told him.

" This…this is really…I don't know what to say…Are you sure about this?" the man asked.

Vice-President Graham sat opposite him, across his desk. He nodded his head to acknowledge the fact. On the man's desk was a file that contained pictures, documents and information of Umbrella's doings with the government. The man picked the file up to have another good look at it before throwing it down on his desk in disgust.

" Yes, everything is true…" Graham sighed.

" What do you plan to do about it?" the man asked.

Graham stood up and started pacing around the small, square office room of the man. He took slow, calm steps as he walked around the room. After what seemed like minutes, Graham said, " I don't know really. The man I've been working with and working for in the last 10 years in my life is no longer the man I used to respect."

The man stroked his chin again, thinking deeply for a while. " Graham, understand this. I can execute what you have asked me to, but you must also know that there will be repercussions for what you have done. Thus, I need to know that if I do execute this order, would you support me?"

Graham paced around the room again, his answer quick and decisive.

" I would…" Graham said.

" Very well," the man replied. He then lifted up his receiver and dialed a few numbers. Graham walked up to a window of his room to get some fresh air as the man started to speak to another person on the other line.


	29. Chapter 25: Last Moments

**Chapter 25: Last Moments**

Phoenix could not remember the last time he wore such a fancy, well-suited dress. He was dressed in a prim and proper tuxedo, along with a bright blue bowtie, since Sara insisted. Other people were gave barely perceptible looks at his choice of colour, giving disapproving looks but saying nothing more. Sara probably wanted to attract some attention with this weird colour.

" Why the glum face?" Sara asked.

Phoenix was not really glum, he just hated all this attention. The tuxedo he wore was rented by Sara. He could not even afford the rental for a damned suit, but Sara insisted. If so, he decided to insist on something else.

" Not really…" he muttered, although it was more to himself.

It was close to midnight and almost all the restaurant's patrons had left already. Phoenix felt awkward that they both had the entire place to themselves, save for the servants that work around the place. He fingered the item in his pocket, just waiting for the right moment to use it.

" Right, Phoenix, we are mostly alone here, so what is the big fuss about waiting so long for some privacy?" Sara asked.

It took her by surprise when Phoenix got off his chair and walked towards her. She gave a look of utter amazement when he kneeled down next to her. He took out a small square box that was covered in velvet and opened it. There was a small ring in it, and on the top there was a solitaire diamond on it.

" I…well, how should I say this? Um…Sara, would you make me the happiest man in my life?" Phoenix blurted out.

He was about to slap his head in stupidity. Earlier this morning, he had written down a full one-minute speech on what he wanted to say to her during the moment like this. And now, all he could afford was a short question. He hoped it was enough.

Sara's hand went to her mouth, which was agape. Her eyes shifted from the ring to Phoenix, who was looking hopefully, then back to the ring, before circling the area looking at the vicinity in general. Phoenix felt the mood was disrupted by a couple of waiters who had caught his antics and were looking at him avidly.

" Phoenix…I…just don't know…what to say…" Sara stammered.

" Just say yes…." Phoenix replied. _Ouch, what am I saying!_

However, Sara Corrine's reply was not what he expected. She turned and looked aside with a dejected face, her lips trembling slightly. Phoenix looked at her, utterly taken aback by her reaction. Her lips parted, with the words " I can't" streaming out.

" Wait, what are you talking about?" Phoenix replied.

" I'm sorry, Phoenix. I can't…" she stammered, looking away.

Phoenix dropped his arms in dejection, wondering what went wrong. He was not sure how long he sat on the floor, even though his legs started aching. He felt something soft brush against his cheeks, and then pushing his face aside so that a kiss could be planted on his cheek.

" And to not make you the happiest man in your life, I'll marry you," Sara whispered into his ear softly, her voice coy and teasing. Phoenix would have loved to slap her for that trick she pulled, but instead, he gave her a big hug.

" And, so to make sure there is no misunderstanding upon the earlier issue, I read your speech this morning which you wrote down. Did you forget about it?" Sara asked.

---

Phoenix Grant and Sara Corrine got married in a local church, a small affair with only about a handful of guest, since Sara came from the orphanage and did not have too many friends, while Phoenix was a former mercenary who was hiding from Umbrella. They did not wanted it anyway, so most of the people there were just to witness their wedding.

Phoenix was in conflict with himself. Here he was, marrying a lecturer of a university while he was not working at all. Being a house husband was not something he really envisioned in his life. He could not work, or would not want to. It made him feel like he should not have joined Umbrella in the first place.

" Something on your mind?" Sara asked.

Phoenix woke up from his day-dream. He saw Sara standing in front of him, looking at him in a curious way. She was already dressed for work, her suitcase in her hand. Phoenix was busy cleaning a gun, a Beretta 92, a gun which Phoenix got for his birthday by Sara.

" What?" Phoenix asked.

" You seem very disorientated these days. Something on your mind?" she asked, feeling worried.

" Nothing's up," Phoenix said smiling. He placed the handgun on top of his desk. Sara smiled at him, then eyed the gun and gave him a look of disapproval.

" You know, I put up with you owning guns, alright. But leaving them around the house for people to pick up is just too much. Why can't you just keep them?" Sara scolded, her hands akimbo.

" They are not loaded," Phoenix defended himself.

" What if our kids decided to pick one up?" Sara rebutted.

" That is if we even have kids…" Phoenix said.

---

Phoenix sat up suddenly, his whole body sweating profoundly. He was not sure why, but he was gasping heavily for breath. Beads of sweat were dropping down from his forehead, dripping all over him. He turned over, and almost gave a cry of surprise as he saw Sara Corrine lying next to her, cuddled up in a fetal position, cooing softly in her sleep. He knew that was impossible, since he just saw her die in his sleep.

_Was that all another dream?_

He looked around. He had fallen asleep on the cold, hard floor of the pool area. He wondered when he had dozed off. He remembered staying up for a while, but he was unaware that he had fallen asleep. Someone had kindly placed a blanket over him to keep him warm, and Phoenix could see who.

" Did you just see a ghost?" Max asked playfully.

He had been busy packing most of their stuff in whatever bags he could find. He had lined-up and loaded all the rifles and guns they had. Having finished the job, he was now sitting down chewing on a piece of bread. He was smiling at Phoenix, grinning sheepishly when Phoenix looked his way.

" Bad dream, huh? I get that once in a while…" Max replied. He handed out his arm to Phoenix, offering him his half-chewed bread. " Want some? There's only a little more left."

" Wait a second…how can you…" Phoenix started stammering. Max looked at him quizzically.

" Aren't you wounded? How can you move about like that?" Phoenix exclaimed, getting to his feet, although he made sure that he got up quietly and spoke softly so that he would not wake the others, but it was ineffective. Rick suddenly rubbed his eyes and sat up, loudly saying " What's going on here?" This made everyone wake up.

" What's all the noise about? Hey, Max…wait, you are alright now?" Kimmy said, her eyes opened wide as she saw Max moving about.

Max got up and started jumping around. Phoenix was almost waiting in anticipation for his wounds to somehow open and causing him to collapse on the floor. Besides having his upper body only covered in bandages, he looked great. " Man, that's one hell of a stuff you gave me!" he exclaimed, before suddenly clutching his side in pain. Kimmy was already up next to him as he dropped to his knees before saying, " Ouch, maybe I over did that."

Dalton was laughing about as hard as he could, rolling all over the floor. Phoenix sniggered at Max, before saying " Idiot."

" Well, I guess that serum worked better than I expected," Mercury concluded.

" Damn, I'm thinking I'm ready to move," Max exclaimed.

" That's great," Dalton said " It's morning already, 7 a.m. to be exact. Let's get ready to move out!"

-

Everyone got ready to leave. They ate the last remaining pieces of food Max had brought from the train. Everyone was quiet, probably trying to conserve their energy, or either that nobody was in the mood to talk.

" Are you sure you are alright?" Kimmy asked, stroking Max on the back gently.

" Look, I'm fine, alright. Don't worry about me," Max replied, finishing his last piece of bread.

" Well guys, I'll go check the area outside, just to make sure everything is alright," Dalton said. He got up and picked u a rifle as he walked to the front entrance. The rest of them got to their feet and started picking up their belongings. However, it was not long before they heard the sound of footsteps coming in their direction.

Everyone turned to see Dalton running back into the pool area as fast as he could, with his hand clasped to his mouth. Before they could ask what was wrong, he suddenly dropped his rifle, dropped to his knees and skidded to the edge of the pool where he started vomiting the remains of whatever he had eat earlier into the pool, which came out in a small brown glob.

" Hey, are you alright?" Iris asked, rubbing his back as he started coughing.

" Disgusting…" was all he could muster out of his mouth.

Mercury eyed the front door, which Dalton had left open after running back. He set off to see what had caused Dalton to barf. Kimmy and Phoenix followed him slowly. They reached the front entrance and took a look outside.

The first thing that greeted them was an intense, thick putrid smell, which smelt like a mix of rotten bodies and sulfur dioxide. It was so intense, Kimmy had to close her nostrils and breathe through her mouth. Even with that, it was still disgusting.

" I see…" Mercury said.

Several blocks down, the three of them could see the road being lined up with a ton of zombie corpses. It looked like they had been there since last night. Around them were several hunters, who looked like they were patrolling the area, watching out for any further arrivals from the zombies. The hunters were probably responsible for killing off the zombies since last night, causing their bodies to rot and decay over some time.

" Mercury, the thing you asked me to throw last night…" Kimmy started.

" Yes, it attracts both zombie and hunter alike. Since it was possible, I used it to attract both of them to the same spot. The hunters would easily kill off the zombies around this area, giving us some space to move around. The only drawback I did not consider was the smell," Mercury admitted.

" I'm not complaining," Phoenix said.

" Hey!" Kimmy suddenly exclaimed.

It started raining all of a sudden. It was not heavy, just a mere drizzle. Both Kimmy and Mercury looked into the sky. There were not many clouds in the sky, which was good news since they did not want to run in a heavy rain. The rain did not bother the hunters, as they continued to pace around the area.

However, the rain signified something else for Phoenix. He raised an open palm to the rain, feeling the small drops of water hitting his skin. He felt it wash all over his hand, soaking his palm under the rain. It felt cold, unutterably cold, just like the time before…

---

It was drizzling slightly, but that did not bother Phoenix one bit.

The whole crowd of people was running into the opposite direction, away from danger and towards safety, but Phoenix was doing the opposite. He ran through the mess of panicky people, needing to pass them. He had to forcefully push his way through the crowd. One man tried to stop him from going back into the danger zone, but all he received from Phoenix was a strong punch on his jaw.

" Please, no…don't let it happen…" Phoenix sobbed.

Phoenix was still cleaning his gun when he saw on the television that there was a robbery going on. A number of highly armed bandits have stormed into a bank and were stealing money from it. The police arrived in time to corner them in the bank, but not before they took some hostages. He would not have bothered about such news, but Sara was supposed to be there.

The crowd around the bank started to disperse when the desperate robbers started firing their weapons at the police. As Phoenix made his way into the crowd, he could see the fight going on. The policemen, who had surrounded the building, were of no match to the robbers in terms of firepower since the robbers were armed with sub-machineguns while the police had to settle with the lowly pistols they were issued with.

Many policemen lay in the streets, dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Several others who were wounded were gunned down by the frantic robbers who were now storming out of the building, trying to get away. They managed to take over several police cars and took off, leaving the policemen in a mess.

The place then became eerily quiet after the robbers left, only the sound of falling rain could be audibly heard by everyone. Phoenix slowly moved into the bank, ignoring the protest of a police officer not to enter. He paid him no heed, and he moved himself like an anchor into the building, dreading what he thought he would see.

In their fit of panic, the robbers had decided that their hostages were now not of anymore use. They had fired at everybody and everyone in the bank, young and old alike, before they left. The place was now in a bloody mess, with dead bodies laying everywhere all over the place. The marble walls had been damaged and broken off by the shots fired. A side of the wall was painted bright red as one of the robbers decided to put a bullet through the head of a lady.

Phoenix started searching the area, looking for someone. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw her.

Sara lay on her side on the floor, her arms crumpled beneath her and her legs askew. There was a bullet wound to her left temple and since there was no exit wound, the bullet had stayed in her head. There was a small pool of blood that surrounded her head. Unlike most of the other corpses he had seen, Sara's face was not contorted in terror like the rest of them. She was probably one of the first few people who had been hit in the attack. She died instantly without pain from a shot to the head.

But all of this was of little condolence to Phoenix. Sara Corrine was dead.

He picked up her body slowly in his arms, holding her limp head close to his heart. He couldn't care less that he was messing up his shirt with her blood. There was no warmth in her body, only an empty, solitary coldness that was left inside. It was not long before he started howling loudly in despair.

Now that the danger had passed, the natural human curiosity took over. A small crowd of people had now gathered at the entrance of the bank, looking at the gory spectacle inside the bank. The remaining policemen were doing what they could to keep the crowd back.

Everyone was now looking at the lone man howling in the bank, cradling a dead woman in his arms.

---

Phoenix felt someone nudge him and he spun around. Iris stared at him quizzically, wondering if he was alright since she saw him zoning out all of a sudden. Phoenix was not sure why he suddenly felt a cold drop of sweat roll down his forehead.

" Are you alright?" Iris asked.

" …I think I'm fine," Phoenix replied after a while.

" You don't look too good," Max rebuked.

" I said I'm fine, damn it," Phoenix said a little more loudly than he would have wanted.

" Keep your voice down, or the hunters might hear you," Mercury warned.

Dalton hobbled out to the front entrance, looking rather sickly after vomiting his breakfast. He started gagging as he smelt the putrid smell again, feeling the bile rising to his throat, but he fought the urge to barf if out again. Mercury glanced around to look for a place to move out from.

" You don't look too well," Max replied.

" You are just imagining things," Phoenix replied.

Max thought for a while before adding, " Sure you don't want to talk about it?"

" No."

_Writer's note: Yeah, a little bit about Phoenix's past and his life with Sara. I planned for him to have flashbacks throughout the entire story, but that did not work out and I still needed some background story for him, so I placed it in a singular chapter here._

_I kinda like this chapter, gives a feel of my character Phoenix and his usual moody behavior._


	30. Chapter 26: Final Commitment

**Chapter 26: Final Commitment**

" Finally…" Kimmy sighed, looking at the sight.

They had slowly made their way out of the apartment blocks and headed along the alleyways to the bridge that connected their island to the next, the island where Max's sister would be waiting for them. Kimmy stood staring at the bridge that would bring them to the other island.

The bridge was mainly empty, save for a group of cars that were situated in the middle of the bridge. All of them had made their way along the roads to reach the bridge. The zombies had not given them any trouble at all.

Not yet.

Phoenix opened fire at a small number of zombies coming in their direction, blowing their brains apart. He then started urging the others to move across. Rick took the lead, holding his sister by the hand and running forward, going round a truck that was blocking his way. Max and Dalton fired their rifles back, trying to put off some pressure off them before turning around to run away.

All of them ran across the bridge as fast as they could, although Mercury was too weak to move quickly enough. He hobbled along quickly enough to gain some breathing space between him and the zombies, who were closing in fast. Max grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him along.

" Light this," Mercury said, tossing Dalton a bottle he had in his pocket. Dalton caught the item Mercury threw at him deftly and took a good look. It looked like Mercury inserted some kind of a white paste inside the bottle. The top was covered in what looked like a bundle of cotton wool and bandages.

Max handed Dalton a lighter and Dalton wasted no time in lighting it up. The top of the fuse on the bottle went up in a spark, before thick, black smoke started to rise from the burn. He placed it on the floor and stepped backwards. The zombies suddenly stopped advancing as they reached the point where Dalton placed the burning bottle on the floor. They shuffled about aimlessly, unsure what to do next.

" Cool…" Dalton mused.

" That will keep them there for a while," Mercury huffed.

" How many more do you have?" Iris asked.

" Two more…" Mercury replied.

Earlier on, they were forced to use his 'smoke bomb' to keep away the zombies form coming too close. When the smoke was released, the zombies would halt in their tracks until it burned away. It could only last about a minute, not more. Max felt that they needed more of that to keep the zombies at bay.

All of them ran along the bridge on foot. Max felt his body sting from all the wounds he received last night from the hunters, but he bore with it. Max somehow suspected whatever Mercury gave him somehow gave him the strength to move along. He did not have time to ask how it worked.

Rick spun to the side, pulling his screaming sister away from a zombie that had just busted out of a school bus. The door of the bus broke open and the zombie that was the driver came crawling out, quickly followed by zombie in the form of small children. Max pulled the trigger of his rifle, emptying it towards all the zombies. The sound of bullets shells rang about in the din as Max wiped them out. He gritted his teeth as he felt his arm sting from firing the gun.

" Careful, some of them might burst out of the vehicles," Max warned as he reloaded his weapon.

The whole group kept on moving along the bridge, trying to walk as fast as they can to conserve energy and staying ahead of the zombies. Dalton took a quick peek behind. He saw the 'smoke bomb' running out of fuse at the same time. The zombie crowd from behind them started to move forward, rushing forward in fact.

" This doesn't look good," Dalton stated the obvious.

" Just keep on moving!" Phoenix yelled.

" Hey, guys! What are those?" Rick suddenly yelled.

Max looked to his right. Far away in the distance, they could see several objects moving in the air, although at this distance they could not really see what they were. They moved in a straight line long the horizon where the sun was rising.

" Birds?" Dalton suggested.

" Have you seen birds moving like that before?" Kimmy asked.

" They are helicopters," Phoenix replied.

He was absolutely right. Military helicopters to be exact. They moved slowly along the horizon, heading to an unknown destination. They passed a tower at the first island before disappearing from sight.

" I guess that's how the Navy Seals have been moving about," Phoenix mused.

" And what are the helicopters doing here now?" Rick questioned.

" Two things: either they are dropping off more people, or they have come to pick them up," Mercury replied.

" It looks like they are heading towards the first island," Kimmy stated.

" We better be cautious then," Phoenix replied.

" And quick!" Max exclaimed. " Zombies are coming!"

The group was quickly moving out again, jogging along the bridge. The moans of the zombies were getting louder and louder. Rick took the lead again, pulling his sister along. But it was not long before he skidded to a halt.

" Oh shit!" he groaned.

Up ahead, the bridge was blocked by a number of zombies. There were quite too many in number for them to kill off. Max turned around to look behind him where the zombies behind them were catching up fast. They were stuck in the middle of the bridge.

" Looks like we are stuck…" Dalton groaned.

" Shit!" Phoenix spat.

" How about we use one of these cars? We could commander one and ram through the zombie crowd," Iris suggested. Everyone turned to look at her. There were several cars scattered all around the bridge. Her suggestion was a good one, but the question was whether the cars would be usable.

Phoenix went up to one of the cars and rammed his boot into the side window, which broke with a crash. Phoenix unlocked the door and pulled open the driver seat. He pulled the dead driver within, throwing him onto the floor. The keys were in the ignition and it showed that the engine was on. The car had just run out of gas.

" Keep searching!" Phoenix yelled to the rest. All of them scrambled around the place, breaking open car doors to check whether they could ride them. Most of them had their keys in it, but the cars' drivers had left their engine on as they died, causing the cars to run out of gas. Kimmy opened one car only to find a pair of keys for the car broken.

All of them were brought to their senses when they heard shots being fired. Dalton had started opening fire towards the on-coming wave of zombies rushing at them. He sprayed his bullets at all of them in an effort to keep them back but was of little use. Phoenix and Max dropped what they were doing and immediately went up to support Dalton; firing short bursts that blew open their heads.

" All of you, continue to find a suitable vehicle," Phoenix ordered the rest of them.

Max and Dalton pulled the pins of a grenade each and rolled it towards the direction of the zombie crowd. They ducked behind a large truck as two explosions went off, ripping the undead apart. It gave them enough breathing space to retaliate. Max cursed silently as he depleted his rifle magazine, needing to replace it with another fresh cartridge.

Rick opened another car door and hopped in. He tried turning the ignition on, but to no avail. Suddenly, something shuffled from behind him. He turned around just in time to see a pair of hands coming down by his side. He screamed, rolling aside to the front passenger seat. The zombie started crawling out of the back seat and onto the driver seat, smashing head first into the wheel. It tried biting Rick, but Rick stared to kick it violently in the head. But the zombie was relentless.

An accurately placed kick upon the zombies face cause some of its facial parts to burst open, staining the soles of Rick's sneakers red. A small piece of meat flew by his side and landed on the dashboard. Rick did a double take as he saw a brown glassy eye staring avidly back at him on the dashboard, oozing out its juices out from a punctured side.

Rick pulled open the side door and dropped out of the car, grunting as he hit the tarmac painfully. He kicked the door shut as the zombie tried to crawl out. There was a loud sound of crashing glass and the zombie's body was now hanging halfway out of the passenger side window. Rick started pushing himself backwards, before Mercury stepped in and blew its brains out.

" Hurry up, guys!" Max yelled, throwing his third empty cartridge aside. The zombie wave was unstoppable.

" This is useless! There is no way we can find a damn car in time! I say we blow this joint!" Dalton yelled, already backing off.

" Are you crazy? We can't make it past the zombies without a vehicle!" Phoenix yelled.

" We would run out of bullets by that time! We may as well try to save it to barge through the zombie crowd!" Dalton argued.

Phoenix looked around him. The rest of them had still not yet found a suitable vehicle to carry them around. It looked like most of the vehicles were out of commission for good. He looked at the approaching zombies, who were just several feet away from him. Dalton was right in a way: they won't be able to commission a vehicle at this rate.

Unless…

" Mercury, do you still have those bottles where you can attract the zombies?" Phoenix asked.

" Yes, I've got four more, but why would you want to attract the zombies anyway? They are already as close as they are right now!" Mercury replied.

Phoenix did not answer. He went up to Mercury and to Mercury's surprise, he started ruffling his jacket, digging into one of his pockets and retrieving the bottle. The fluid was pinkish in colour, just like the one he saw before. Without waiting, he smashed the bottle on top of his forehead, letting the fluids rain down and soak his body entirely.

" Phoenix, you nutcake! What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" Max howled.

Phoenix immediately took of for through the zombie crowd from the area which they had just passed. The zombies were instantly attracted to him, spinning around to chase after him. He leaped over two cars, blasting away two zombies before dodging a third to avoid getting bitten. He scrambled up a bus, standing erect on the roof of the vehicle while he started shooting the zombies that were trying to reach for him. His diversion worked. All the zombies surrounding him were now attracted to his 'scent', encircling the bus, effectively trapping his exit.

" Phoenix, you asshole! What are you trying to do, play hero?" Max yelled at him.

" Don't give me that shit, Max! Go find a damn car!" Phoenix rebutted, spinning around and giving a swift kick towards a zombie who had managed to climb up the roof of the bus.

Max was not about to leave his comrade alone. He stepped forward, his rifle raised. He started firing at the rush of zombies trying to climb up the bus, helping Phoenix to slow them down. It did, but more and more of the undead were closing in on Phoenix.

" I think I got one!" Iris exclaimed. She twisted the ignition of the pickup truck she was in. The engine coughed slightly, but no more. Not to be further discouraged, she twisted the ignition again. It started for a while, before dying out.

" You were saying?" Dalton mocked sarcastically.

" There's fuel in this car, I'm sure of that. I just think it has run out of batteries," Iris replied, yanking the level in the car to open the hood. Mercury lifted the hood and opened the cover for the battery. Sure enough, the battery was empty.

" We need to fill it up!" Mercury declared.

" With what?" Dalton asked.

" Water, you idiot! Don't you know basically how a car works?" Kimmy replied.

" Don't give me that tone! Aren't you supposed to use distilled water or something like that?" Dalton rebutted.

" Using normal water destroys the battery after some time. We won't be keeping this truck for long, so water will just work fine," Mercury said. Vanessa went up to him with a small bottle of water she found in one of the cars. He immediately unscrewed the cap and poured its contents messily into the battery. Iris jumped aback into the car and turned the ignition. The truck roared to life, the sound of the engine like music to their ears.

" Let's go people, get in!" Dalton cried happily, jumping into the front passenger seat. The rest of them got into the back of the truck. Only Max was left standing in the open.

" Max!" Kimmy yelled.

" We can't leave Phoenix behind!"

Phoenix had run out of rifle bullets to keep the zombies effectively at bay. He tossed his now useless weapon aside and pulled out his handgun. One zombie managed to grab his foot, but Phoenix cracked open its skull with a powerful stamp with his feet. Another made it up to the top, grabbing him from behind. Phoenix managed to elbow it in time and fire a shot at its head.

" Phoenix, come on!" Max urged.

" Forget it, kid! I'm lost! There is no way I can escape through this mess!" Phoenix replied as he inserted another fresh clip into his gun. " I was going to die before I came to this island, and I'm will die after I leave, so it doesn't make a difference if I die now."

" What the hell…?" Max gasped, wondering if his friend had somehow gone mad.

" I'll leave it to you to get Iris off this island. Can you something as simple as that?" Phoenix asked, grinning. Max felt incredulous. There is was, stuck in the middle of a whole group of hungry, blood-thirsty monsters and all he could do was smile. He had already decided that he would die.

Then, it dawned on Max that maybe Phoenix was giving up on life because of the passing of his wife. Granted, Max never seen her before, only that she looked like Iris, and he did not know her character, but he had heard Phoenix speak fondly of her before when they were together. And the emotion he displayed when he spoke of her made him sound more human than ever before. Max figured he was giving up. The love of his life was gone, and he probably wanted to commit suicide.

Max was not a person to judge other people on what they do, but he still did not want to lose Phoenix.

" You are depressed, I can see it! I don't know who she was, but Sara Corrine was someone special to you, I know that! But there is so much more to life than this!" Max yelled. " Come with us!"

Phoenix was unmovable. Max eyes widen in shock as Phoenix drew out a grenade from his pocket. " I came here chasing something I could not find. You know, it was great seeing you again," Phoenix said. However, before he pulled the pin, several pairs of hands reached out for his legs and pulled him down. He gave a short yell before he disappeared from Max's view.

" NO!" Max howled rushing forward.

" Max, damn it, come back!" the rest of the cried.

Max had barely made a few feet when he was throw backwards by a powerful force. He felt deafened as a loud explosion rang out, blowing out flames in front of him. He felt a familiar heat sear his face as a large fire erupted. Apparently, Phoenix managed to pull the pin from the grenade. The nearby vehicles provided enough fuel to cause a large enough explosion.

Max was slightly dazed from the blast, and he was barely aware that both Mercury and Kimmy were dragging him up to the truck. As soon as all of them were on board, Iris slammed her foot on the accelerator, speeding forward. Rick and Vanessa just stared at the fire that was now burning brightly.

" Crap!"

There was now a more thunderous sound booming throughout the area, a cracking, splintering sound. The entire bridge was now vibrating slightly, the vibrations getting more and more violent with each passing second. Kimmy suddenly saw a large, ominous crack form by the side of the bridge they were traveling. It was apparent that the bridge was falling apart.

Another thunderous boom was heard, followed quickly by the sound of a large object crashing into a body of water. Behind them, a large piece of the bridge had been unattached from its foundations and had broken off, falling into the ocean. It did not stop though: the entire bridge started collapsing in a line, falling down into the ocean like a set of dominoes.

" Faster, Iris, drive faster!" Rick exclaimed.

Iris did the best she could, straining the truck to go as fast as it possible could. Zombies were unceremoniously knocked aside or rolled over. The ones that were not hit by the speeding pickup truck fell into the ocean as the bridge collapsed under their feet, crushing them with a ton of debris, sinking into the ocean.

The truck just made it in time to the other side just as the entire bridge fell into the ocean. Iris skidded to a halt, trying to catch her breath. They had safely reached the other side of the bridge, on flat land.

The entire bridge had collapsed, leaving a long line of debris in the ocean that was quickly sinking to the bottom. They had effectively sealed off the rest of the islands from the island they were on. From the sight of the damage, it looked like Phoenix would not have made it.

" Oh my God…" Iris moaned, on the verge of tears.

" No way…Phoenix…" Rick gasped, looking at what was left of the bridge.

Nobody said anything for a while. " Come on, let's go. There is nothing we can do here," Mercury stated the obvious. The truck started again, leaving the place.

-

Max sat in the back of the pickup truck, to lost for words. Kimmy and Mercury decided it was prudent that they leave him alone. Iris was now speeding her way down the road, heading towards the designated place.

" Do you know where you are going?" they heard Dalton ask.

" Please, I've been staying here for several years already. Don't try to instruct me where to go," Iris scolded him. Dalton then kept quiet.

" Hey, Max, I know this might not amount to much, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry about Phoenix," Mercury said. Max did not reply. He took in a deep breathe, then exhaled slowly, his expression still as glum as ever.

It was Kimmy who took the bold initiative. She got up and took one long step towards Max. Grabbing him by his shoulder, since he did not have any shift on, she gave him a tight slap on his face. Mercury was about to say something but thought the better of it. Max felt the blow, but he did not react. He merely looked at Kimmy.

" Max, get out of this funk right now! Phoenix spent his life trying to help us escape, and your damn attitude is not helping one bit! Wake up, damn it! Don't act like this!" Kimmy yelled, shaking him hard on his shoulders. It did not seem to work.

" Asshole, are you listening to me?" Kimmy cried furiously, shaking him even harder.

It was then when Max decided she had done enough. He pushed her back, more violently than he would have wanted. " Fuck off, damn it! We've got enough fucking problems here without you making it worse and…"

It was then in the middle of his tirade when he heard a faint popping sound from afar, instantly followed by something that grazed his ear ever so lightly. Mercury apparently heard it too, and was looking around for the noise.

" Ugh…" Kimmy groaned.

Max turned to look at her so see what was the problem. She had suddenly gone pale all of a sudden, her eyes unfocused. She held her hand towards her abdomen, the shirt around her suddenly staining red. She removed her hand and Max could clearly see the bullet wound that had pierced her. Her hands were soaked in her own blood.

She looked back at him, whispering " Max," before she rolled her eyes upwards and fell off the truck.


	31. Chapter 27: Showdown

**Chapter 27: Showdown**

All of them stared in horror as Kimmy fell off the truck. Her body hit the side of the road, rolling twice before coming to a full stop on her back in the middle of the road. She groaned slightly, raising her arms for a while, before dropping them down as she lost consciousness.

Max was not sure how fast he reacted. The truck had speed several meters away when he took action. His legs immediately made him stand and in one swift motion, he was off the truck and hitting the tarmac hard on his knees. He felt slightly woozy when he jumped off the truck, but otherwise he was fine. He felt a painful sensation tearing through the right side of his body and looked at see that his bandages were slightly stained with blood. He must have opened up his wounds during the fall.

As Max was getting his bearings right, Mercury's eyes scanned the area to see what had attacked them. It did not take too long. Not far off, he could see a helicopter hovering not very high from the ground. Someone was seated by its open door and he could see that he was armed with a rifle. Mercury's eyes widened when he saw the man lift the rifle to his eye level.

" Max, watch out!" Mercury yelled.

Max was barely aware of Mercury's warning, his thoughts only to save Kimmy. He had already lost Phoenix earlier. Losing another was just too much for him to bear.

The gunner on the helicopter fired in Max's direction. Max yelped as bullets started to rain down on the road, making small potholes. He felt the gravel sting his legs mercilessly. He threw his body aside, and he covered himself with the closest place of cover he could find, which was a pathetic piece of tree that stood by the road side.

It was only at this point when Iris actually realized that something was wrong and slammed her foot on the brakes. Dalton lurched forward as the truck decelerated at such a rate, smashing his forehead onto the dashboard since he decided not to wear a seatbelt under such conditions. Before they knew it, the gunner had decided to focus his attention on them, firing his gun on the truck. Mercury grabbed both Rick and Vanessa and forced them on the floor, covering them from the storm of bullets that was heading their way, a stray bullet grazing his shoulder.

" Don't stop here in the middle of nowhere!" Max could hear Dalton shout. The truck took off again, running itself off the main road and racing to the side of a large warehouse to take cover. Max took a peek at the helicopter, only to find himself being shot at. He ducked behind the tree, watching large splinters of wood been torn from its foundations.

Max tried to get a glimpse of Kimmy. She was still lying unconscious on the road, not moving, but thankfully he could still see that she was breathing slowly. The gunner had opted not to shoot at Kimmy, probably because he thought he had hit his mark, or either that he did not want to divert his attention on his other targets. Either way, Max was glad she was left alone.

" Max!"

Max turned to see Mercury standing near the entrance of the warehouse, careful to stay inside to not risk being hurt.

" Max, what are you doing?" he cried, cupping his hands to his mouth.

" I need to rescue Kimmy. I can't leave her like this!" Max yelled.

" How are you going to save her?" Mercury cried.

" I don't know, but I have to try!" Max replied.

" Max, wait, don't leave us!" Rick was yelling. Dalton had gotten out of his car and was looking at Max dejectedly.

" There is no way we can outrun a helicopter in that damned truck. I'll stay behind to keep it busy. You all go on ahead!" Max cried. The rest of them just looked at him, not sure what to do. " Did you all listen to me? Go on ahead! Leave me here! I'll take care of things! Don't just stand there like a bunch of idiots!" Max noticed that the helicopter was already rising and staring to head their way.

It was Mercury who decided to act. He grabbed a bag containing some of their equipment and weapons and placed it on the floor of the warehouse. He also took Max's rifle and laid it on the floor. " Godspeed…" he said, before forcing the rest of them back into the truck. He had to forcibly hit Dalton on his head to force him to move.

" Thanks…" he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Just as their truck was about to crash through the opposite door of the warehouse, Max diverted the helicopters attention by pulling out his pistol and firing in the direction of the helicopter. He could hear the metal bullets striking the steel exterior of the helicopter. The gunner fired back, and Max ducked behind the tree.

The helicopter look strikingly like a King Cobra helicopter, minus its main machinegun and its missile racks. He guessed that most of its armaments were taken off so that the chopper could be used more as a transport vehicle. It took several seconds later for him to change his mind.

When the firing stopped, Max ran as fast as he could towards the warehouse where Mercury had left the weapons for him. As soon as he tore away from the tree, he heard a very familiar yet forbidding whizzing sound that came from the helicopter. He did not need to look at it to know what it was. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him before it was too late.

The missile hit the tree and blew it into a thousand pieces. Max felt the shock of the blast and was thrown off balance, dropping on the floor and rolling the rest of the way into the warehouse. He caught a glance of the tree, which was now only a smoldering piece of blackened stump. He breathed a sigh of relief, having escaping death.

He picked up his rifle and checked the bag. It did not contain much stuff, a few extra clips for his pistol and some leftover food. There were a couple of grenades, a flare and Mercury's 'miracle serum'. Max could not view his inventory long, because he saw the helicopter lower itself at the entrance of the warehouse.

For whatever reasons unknown, the Navy Seals flying the helicopter decided to fire a missile at his direction. If they decided to just fire a machinegun at Max's direction, they might have gotten a direct shot at him.

The missile flew in an arch heading towards Max's right. He felt the projectile fly by his face and heading towards the back of the warehouse. Less than a second later, the missile hit the wall of the warehouse, blowing large bits of concrete apart and sending out large clouds of smoke up and around the warehouse. Max inhaled the dirty mixture slightly and started coughing badly. But that was the least of his worries.

The warehouse was collapsing, and it was collapsing fast. Before Max managed to make it through the front entrance, it was already blocked by large amounts of rubble and planks of wood. A large slab on the ceiling almost squashed him to death, missing his head by a foot. He looked frantically around for an exit. He saw the back entrance which the rest of them had exited from and ran quickly.

However, just as he was about to reach it, the entrance gave way and crumbled before his feet, sealing him off inside. He looked upwards to see the ceiling where he was under giving way and falling down towards him.

On the outside, the people inside the helicopter watched passively as the building slowly started to collapse, sending a palpable cloud of grey dust into the sky, clouding the orange morning sun in a blanket of dust.

-

" Are you sure leaving him there is a good idea?" Rick asked.

" That was what he had decided, and we will have to stick with that," Mercury replied.

" We are here!" Iris exclaimed.

Recon Port was located at the north-west side of the 1st Island, at a rather emote area of the island. Mercury thought it was a good choice for Rachael to pick this area as a pick-up point, as they will be hopefully not disturbed by too many people. The place was surrounded by a tall, wire fence that ran around the area. The front steel gate with its signboard upon it was apparently locked.

It did not deter Iris at the least. She gave the truck a sharp turn aiming the front of the truck directly at the gate before stepping onto the accelerator. The truck lurched forward and hit the gate. The gate swung open, sparks flying in all directions as metal grinded against metal. It was until after Iris rammed her car inside then she started screaming.

There was a lone hunter walking in the front compound where most of the vehicles were parked. It was busy prodding several dead zombies which it had killed before the rude intrusion of their pick-up truck. It looked quizzically at them as the truck came into the compound.

" Step on the gas, now! Ram it down!" Dalton was yelling.

Iris did not need to be told. Mostly out of reflex, her foot was maxing out the accelerator even before Dalton had asked her to. The hunter cocked his head aside, finding the accelerating truck amusing before realizing that it was on a collision course towards it. Before it could leap out of the way, the truck smashed into it and the hunter crashed onto the windscreen of the truck at sixty kilometers and hour.

However, the force was not enough to kill it. After a second looking like it was dead, it suddenly got up and smashed its powerful arm onto the windscreen, breaking it into small little bits. Iris got too terrified and hit the brakes. The truck spun in a wide arc, the side slamming into the back of and SUV. Mercury, Rick and Vanessa were tossed around in the back like a bunch of dolls.

Dalton acted instantly. The hunter howled as it was riddled with bullets from a rifle. Dalton emptied a whole magazine into the hunter. It started coughing out blood and collapsed onto the hood of the truck, bleeding out.

Dalton opened the door of the truck and fell out, trying to catch his breath from the ordeal. " Never…let…a…woman…drive…" he gasped.

-

The helicopter observed the rubble that was once a warehouse for a while longer, making sure that it prey had been killed. It was over a minute and there was no sign of life. The dust had mostly settled down now, and it was quiet save for the rotors of the chopper.

However, just as they were about to leave, the pilot saw something small fly towards them from below. He did not catch where did this flying projectile came from, but he knew it came from ground level and it was headed this way. His reflexes took over, banking the helicopter as far right as he possibly could. Somehow, he felt he could not escape it entirely.

The grenade rocked the entire helicopter, shaking it violently as it exploded. One of the Navy Seals was thrown out of the helicopter and dropped head first onto the ground below. He died instantly upon impact.

As the pilot tried to gain control of his helicopter as fast as he could, he could not help but notice the engine had already suffered some damage, but at least it was bearable. The missile racks have been damaged and cannot be fired unless he wanted to risk blowing it up in its rack. The pilot cursed furiously at the damage done.

As the helicopter was steadying itself, the gunner noticed a figure emerge from the back of the warehouse. Before he could turn his gun towards it, the figure had already raised its gun of its own and fired. The gunner took several bullets in his chest, gurgling blood before falling off the helicopter.

Max stormed out from the rubble and fired his rifle furiously at the flying contraption, adrenaline pumping hard into his system from his close-call death encounter. Just as the warehouse was about to collapse and bury him under rubble, he spotted a small glass window by his side. He could not care less if he cut himself in the process. He smashed through the glass panel just in time as the warehouse collapsed, hiding out of sight from the helicopter to allow them enough time to drop their guard down.

Max tried to bear with the cuts he had sustained on his arms from jumping through a glass window while he reloaded his empty rifle and fired again. The helicopter turned on him and tried to knock him of his feet by lowering its rotors as low as it could to buffet Max off his feet with the strong air currents.

Max slipped slightly but managed to stay upright. He tore off into another direction to escape the helicopter. The helicopter chased after him. Max knew he had taken out the gunner, but he was surprised that the helicopter had decided not to fire its missiles at him. He guessed that his grenade attack was much more damaging than he expected and the thought of it made him smile.

The helicopter was catching up fast and Max rolled to his side. The rotors of the helicopter missed him by several feet as he tumbled along a grassy area. The helicopter had come to close to him and Max felt that this was a golden opportunity that was not to be missed. He took of the pin of the last grenade he had and lobbed it at the bottom of the helicopter.

The helicopter had lifted off a few feet when the grenade exploded. It rose several more feet, but the damage had already been inflicted. It started to lose balance and slipped to the side, its engine failing from the extent of the damage of the blast. A couple of Navy Seals jumped out of the helicopter and landed on their feet. From the looks of them crying in pain and grabbing their ankles, Max guess they have broken their feet.

The helicopter smashed into a water tower nearby and exploded. Its missiles were set off, giving off a larger secondary explosion. There was the sound of screeching metal as the helicopter smashed against the water tower, its legs giving way from the force and bending in an awkward angle. The last explosion wiped both the helicopter and the tower from existence.

Max boldly stepped forward towards the two Navy Seals, his rifle poised and ready for action. The first took out his handgun from its harness, but Max beat him to the draw by firing several bullets. He turned his attention to the other person, who also drew out a weapon, but Max wanted to laugh at the man's pathetic attempt to save himself with a knife. He fired at the man's hand, knocking the blade out of his hands.

He stepped on the man's chest, looking commanding and furious as he demanded " Tell me, why are you bastards shooting us innocent civilians?"

The man spat at his feet. " Fuck you! From the way you fight, there is no way you are a civilian," the man spat in contempt.

Max stomped his foot onto the man's ankle, hearing one of his bones crack. The man screamed in agony as Max twisted his foot on his broken leg. " Wrong answer, buddy. No smart moves with me. What do you want with us?" Max asked.

" Fuck you…argh!...Fuck…Fucking hell, it hurts!" the man yelled as Max increased the pressure on his foot.

" Answer me! Why are you here?" Max demanded.

" We were just here on orders…government orders…fuck man…oh, shit…we were ordered by them to not…not let anyone escape to the best of our capabilities…" the man groaned.

" By shooting us down like dogs!?" Max roared like a deranged animal, spit flying from his mouth.

" We are just following orders…about to be destroyed…"

" Fuck your orders!" Max yelled. Rage had overtaken him. The very thought of his own government hunting him down like some kind of a dog was sickening, and he was boiling over it. Sometime later, he would agree that he had been taken over by something that was not even remotely him, but right now, he felt what he was doing was right.

He fired his rifle over and over again at the man's legs, not willing to give him a quick death. The man cried in agony as Max reloaded another clip and fired at his legs again and again, willing himself to cause as much pain as he possibly could to the man. Even after he was long dead, he fired his handgun again and again until he felt his anger disappear.

He fell onto the floor in pain, his entire body aching and his mind wondering what was going on with him. He felt delirious with pain, and he placed it as the sole reason he acted like this. He looked around at the damaged that had been done, from the warehouse to the dead people he had just killed.

He thought about whether what he had done was morally right. Killing zombies was one thing, but another human being was…was just to ghastly to bear. He gripped his head, his thoughts confused at all the things he had gone through and all the mess that he had done. He took deep breaths trying to calm himself. After a while, his breathing started to become steady and it slowed down. He allowed himself, willed himself to calm down and think properly.

Suddenly, he realized something important from what the dead man had just said. Immediately, he reached for his cell phone.

---

Iris looked around at the damaged port. Most of the boats were halfway underwater, their bottoms or their hulls sticking up from the surface. The main office had been burned to the ground, and there were dead bodies everywhere, zombies and humans alike. Most of the piers had been damaged and destroyed. They stood at the edge of the water, wondering what to do next. Thankfully for them, there were no zombies roaming about for them to take care of.

" Guys, look!" Rick exclaimed excitedly.

At a distance, a speedboat was approaching them. It was rather small and white in colour, and Mercury was rather amazed that Max's sister had driven such a small, frail looking boat over the ocean. _The guts this girl has._

" We are saved!" Dalton leaped for joy. Rick started dancing around in circles and Iris was waving towards the boat. Only Mercury looked glum.

" What's wrong with you?" Dalton asked, elbowing his ribs.

" What are we going to explain to her about Max?" Mercury asked. His statement dampened their festive mood somewhat. Now, they feared facing whatever that was in the boat, some part of them wishing it would somehow go away.

Rachael Hunter had the same eyes that Max had, but she had none of that boyish look that Max had inherited. She was a strong-willed person, with her long, red hair tied in a pony-tail behind her. She edged the speedboat towards the edge of the island, right beside them. Mercury noticed there was a cell phone in her hands.

" Man, I thought you people would be exuberant in seeing me here. Guess I was wrong…" Rachael laughed.

" Rachael, Max is…" Mercury started, feeling the need to explain things to her.

" He's fine, and he's gotten off the island," came her reply.

Mercury and the rest of them were not sure what to reply. _He got off?_ Mercury felt it was too good to be true. He stammered trying to find his words, " He…got off? How..?"

" He just called. Here, he wants to speak to you," Rachael said, tossing Mercury her hand phone. Mercury started at the phone, wondering whether he was going to wake up in a dream or not. He cautiously placed his ear to the phone.

" Hello?" a familiar voice called.

" Max!" Mercury exclaimed, about as surprised as the rest of them hearing him calling his name.

" Mercury, this is urgent. There are more helicopters swarming all over the place, and I've learned that they'll shoot anything that doesn't contain a virus and moves. You guys need to get yourselves out of the island immediately. Don't worry about me, I'm already off this island with Kimmy," Max replied.

" How?" Mercury asked, the voice coming out of his mouth sounding more suspicious than relieved.

" The dumb helicopter decided to land down and the Navy Seals got out looking for me, I took this opportunity to get Kimmy and board the helicopter. I forced a gun to the pilot's head and he was more than ready to comply," Max said.

_He's lying,_ Mercury thought quietly.

" Mercury… you there…" Max asked, wondering what was wrong with Mercury's response.

" That's great," Mercury said, trying to sound even and calm. " That's a relief. We'll keep in touch. I need to hand these kids back to you, alright?"

" Yeah, say thanks to my sister for me will you…I'll call later…" Max said, before cutting off the line.

" Max is fine!?" Rick exclaimed.

" Um…yeah…" Mercury replied. " There are more helicopters around. We need to get out of here, now…"

Everybody boarded the speedboat, Mercury climbing in the last. Rachael revved up the engine and the boat made its way off the island. There was a great sense of relief within the group. Finally, they were getting away from the nightmare that they had endured for too long. They were off Specter Island. Rick hugged his sister happily, and Mercury spotted her smiling for the first time ever. Dalton fell on the floor, too glad it was over. Iris just merely looked back at the island that was constantly getting smaller and smaller, probably hoping Max and Kimmy were alright and wondering about Phoenix.

" He asked me to thank you," Mercury said, going up to Rachael.

" Uh huh…" she said, nodding her head.

Mercury looked at the rest of them, who were too busy not to pay any attention to Mercury and Rachael. He knew he would need to tell them later, but Rachael needed to know first hand that her brother had just lied to her.

" Rachael, listen to me. Your brother was lying to us. I can't explain why, but I just know it. He did not get off. He's stuck. He lied to you to convince you to get us off the island," Mercury started to explain.

" I know..."

" I'm sorry…wait, what?" Mercury said, stopping himself as he heard her reply.

" You are a very arrogant man, aren't you, Mercury Cross?" Rachael replied nonchalantly.

Mercury was too lost for words, especially when she used his full name.

" You have known my brother for less than one day, and I have known him for all my life since he was born, so don't assume you know him better than I do, Mr. Cross. I do know that he is a pathetic liar, but I always fall for his lies all my life," Rachael said.

" …I don't know what to say…" Mercury apologized.

" There is nothing you need to say. In fact, I need to thank you."

Mercury looked at her, very surprised. " What for?"

" I came here mainly to pick up my brother, not some bunch of strangers. He is a pain in my rear end, but I still love the idiotic, useless fool I know he will always be. He had called me earlier and tried to convince me to take all of you off this island. He told me something he claimed it was the truth, but I know that he was not lying this time."

" Last night, he told me he had given himself up as dead, and it was a fact that he knew was going to happen. You, however, refused to give up on him and he's still alive today. He tells me you are not the criminal everyone thinks you are. You brought him this far…a distance he never thought he could reach, and he told me he was grateful for that. And for that, I too am grateful," Rachael said. Mercury could see tears flowing down her reddened eyes.

Mercury sighed, then said " You are most welcomed."

Unbeknown to them, Dalton watched their exchange from afar.

_Writer's note: My favourite chapter so far, probably because of the helicopter fight. I think I got my idea from RE3 where Jill is able to blow up Nicholai in the chopper. I loved that part! _


	32. Chapter 28: Taking Away Everything

**Chapter 28: Taking Away Everything**

Apparently the speedboat that Rachael had been using was actually stolen from a shop loaning boats for recreational uses from Hawaii. This would actually cause some problems, since the authorities will be looking for it. It was hardly a problem to by worrying about after surviving through a zombie infested island, but Mercury was eager to avoid the authorities. After all, his name had not yet been cleared.

He looked back at the island, which was slowly becoming smaller and smaller, shrinking into the horizon at the distance. It was almost a forgotten memory already, split apart by a body of water.

" How long did you take to get here in this boat?" Mercury asked.

" Almost a day. I had to spend the night sleeping under the stars. Thankfully, there was not rain or choppy waters," Rachael replied.

" Max mentioned that you are a Coast Guard helicopter pilot, so I was actually expecting you to come in helicopter," Mercury confided.

" That was my initial plan actually, but unfortunately, no aerial vehicles are allowed to lift off Hawaii, except planes carrying passengers from Hawaii to the mainland. Helicopters were strictly forbidden to take off, and throwing my tantrums in the offices did not help one bit. So, in the end, Jack and I decided to steal a boat to come here. Desperate, really, but what was I to do?" Rachael replied, not missing a beat.

" Who's Jack?"

" My boyfriend…well, actually, more like my fiancée, since he lives in my apartment, plans to marry some time soon and we are not virgins already, but there is not official recognition that we are engaged. Something in between I guess," Rachael said, blushing slightly.

" I've never heard of engagements needed to be recognized," Mercury responded.

" I meant between us."

" …Oh."

" Anyway, he pretended to play sick to cause a distraction so that I could steal a boat. Worked out well, I guess," Rachael said, smiling.

" They haven't arrested him, I hope," Mercury said.

" Well, so far not yet, but I have not heard from him since I left," Rachael said.

" Hawaii is pretty far from here. This speedboat can't contain that much fuel to run this far."

" I know that, that's why I also stole a nice amount of fuel and packed it behind the boat, along with other essential stuff. But you have just addressed one major problems I have: I have about a quarter tank of fuel left in the engine, and I have some spare enough to fill up one full tank, so if we continue along to Hawaii, we'll be stuck somewhere along the way in the middle of the ocean," Rachael said.

" I think I can solve the problem," Iris piped up.

" You can?" Dalton and Rick asked. Mercury found it surprising that all of them were actually listening to their conversation.

" My father was supposed to pick me up in one of the uncharted islands around this area. If I can contact him, I suppose I can arrange for him to pick us up," Iris said.

" Don't you know the coordinates?" Dalton asked.

" Unfortunately, no, since I'm bad with navigating and geography, so there will be no point in me knowing the coordinates. Besides, Phoenix and I were going to get off Specter Island via a helicopter before the outbreak broke out and there was an aerial lockdown over the area," Iris explained.

" Why were you about to leave before the outbreak? And who's Phoenix?" Rachael asked quizzically.

" Long story. May I?" Mercury asked, handling out his palm to show that he wanted Rachael's hand phone. She quickly gave it to him and he passed it on to Iris, who dialed quickly.

" Talking about an aerial lockdown, you did not receive any resistance coming here?" Mercury asked.

" Strangely, no. I did not see any ships or planes or choppers. I guess the government mainly enforced it at the nearest areas where they think people might take off on air or by sea. I don't think they'd expect a small piece of junk like this to travel too far. Well, we can't travel too far. We don't have enough fuel to finish the return journey," Rachael replied.

Rachael spun around when she felt someone tap her lightly on her shoulder. " Here, speak through this. The female will tell you the coordinates where my father can pick us up," Iris said. Rachael took the phone immediately. However, before she could even speak or listen to a word, everyone's attention was captured by Rick's loud cry.

" Holy shit! Look at that!"

Everyone turned to look at what Rick was pointing at. It came from the direction of the island. It took some time for everyone to comprehend what they saw, but Mercury was the first to realize what it was and gasped " Oh God…"

---

Max skidded to a halt next to Kimmy's limp body. He gingerly placed his hands on her as he started to check on her status. She groaned and winced in pain, twitching her limbs slightly, but her eyes stayed shut.

There was an entry wound in the middle of her abdomen, probably a rifle shot. The red stain where the bullet entered had gotten larger now, but she was not bleeding seriously. Max hoped that it had not hit any of her vital organs. Her breathing was shallow but steady. He knew he had to act fast in order to save her, although he realized his act was ironic: he had ordered his sister to leave once she had picked the rest of the survivors up and he guessed it was an impossible task to get off this island with all the danger that was roaming around.

But he was not the one who will just let her be. He opened the bag he had and took out whatever medical supplies he had. He cursed as he could not find any bandages. He had some on, but those were for his wounds. His long pants were made out of a sturdy, tough material that would be useless as a bandage and was too difficult to rip apart. He was considering the idea of taking off his own bandages when a thought occurred to him that he did not necessarily needed to use his own articles.

He ripped off Kimmy's shirt and took it off her body. He then shredded it so that the bloodied area was separated from the clean side. Tossing his makeshift bandage aside, he started observing her wound.

The little round wound was visible near her belly-button, a small but constant supply of blood seeped from it. He unsheathed a trench knife and heated it with fire from a lighter he had, hoping it would sanitize it to reduce the chance of infection. He did not heat it too long in fear of hurting Kimmy further.

He felt her twitch as he drove the tip of the knife into her wound. The wound was quite shallow and he could already feel the knife touching the bullet that was lodged inside her. He slowly dug it out, hoping that he did not do too much damage since he was not a qualified doctor. As the metallic object came out of her, he wondered if he should have just cleansed her wound and bandaged her instead of doing this.

There was a bottle of wine inside the bag had he hoped it would work sufficiently as a disinfectant. He poured and cleaned her wound with the alcohol before tying her wound tightly with her clothing. All the while as he did his work, he tried his best not to ogle at her exposed breasts which were only covered with a bra.

With that, he slowly picked her up and went to the closest shadiest spot, which was a tree nearby. He sat down on the stump of the tree, resting her head on his legs as he was just too tired to adjust her body. He sort of like zoned out for a while, the days events taking a toll on him plus the events the night before. He knew he was out for some time, but he was immediately awake as he felt something stir.

The first thing Kimmy saw was Max's face looking down rather contentedly at her. It took several seconds for her to register the coldness around her body, which was caused by the lack of her shirt, which was used as a bandage, on her body. She felt woozy, probably from the lack of blood in her body. She knew that she had passed out for some time, but all she could manage to say was: " Where the hell is my clothes, you pervert?"

" Look, it was not like I could find any bandages," Max defended himself.

Both of them looked at each other for a while, then laughed and giggled at the hilarity of their position despite their situation.

" What the hell happened?" Kimmy asked at last when she felt it was too painful to laugh any further.

" You got shot at by some fucker in a helicopter," Max said, his face suddenly showing concern. " Don't worry, I nailed that son of a bitch real good. I decided to stay behind and look after you. I couldn't just let you waste here all alone."

" Stay behind? Where are the others?" Kimmy asked, surprised.

" I had asked,…okay, lied to them, to leave. This place isn't safe any more. There are helicopters roaming about the area and I was worried that they might get shot at if they stayed on this island too long. The sooner they get away from this island, the better. But, I guess that means that we are stuck here," Max explained.

" Aren't we going to find another escape route?" Kimmy asked.

" To be frank, no. You're badly injured, and there is no way in hell that you can move in this condition. I've just finish a fight with a helicopter and now I'm too tired to move any further. We are left with a handgun and several clips, some useless stuff, edible material and a bag. I can carry you for about a hundred meters, but that's as far as I can possibly go today. If anything comes, and we are out of bullets, that's going to be the end of us," Max explained.

Kimmy looked at him forlornly, but then accepted it as fate. Max somehow thought that she would feel depressed, but in fact it was the opposite. She raised her hand to his cheek, smiling at him.

" Fine by me. Looks like we have the whole island to ourselves," she said. " Besides, looks like we are in a very romantic situation here," she continued, pointing out the fact that Max had allowed her to lie on his laps.

" Look, it's not what you think it is," Max responded, but Kimmy beat him to the draw. He pulled his face gently forward to hers and locked her lips with his. Max was taken aback, but he somehow needed the sensation of them together he just had to keep it there.

He heard a lot about kissing that was supposedly very important in relationships and couples. He heard all about how there are many nerve endings upon one's lips, and how kissing was a great stimulus to both partners, something passionate and romantic and powerful at the same time. Max was not sure what Kimmy felt right now, but he felt nothing in his nerves that said that kissing was very stimulating.

_So why do I feel so great?_

Kimmy broke the kiss after a while. She gave him an appraising look before saying " Your kiss sucked."

" Sue me, I'm still a virgin," Max said, grinning.

" That's no excuse," Kimmy replied.

" Then how about this?" Max asked, going down to her and kissing her once more. This time, he was more passionate and he placed more effort to it. He was not sure how to really kiss a girl, so he merely rubbed his lips against hers, holding on for sometime longer before breaking off. " How's that?"

" You still suck, but I guess I'll give you an A for effort," Kimmy replied.

Max wanted to say something else, but a loud sonic boom interrupted him. He was slightly alarmed at the sound of the noise, his head sprung up looking at where the noise came from. He spotted it immediately.

Exactly south of where they were, according to the direction of the sun, about seven flares shot up into the sky, bright incandescence shining brightly at the end of the flares. Unfortunately, they were too far away and rising at an insane speed into the clouds in the sky to be flares. Looking closer, Max noticed a metallic lining around the flares.

---

" Missiles…" Mercury gasped.

" Missiles?" Dalton exclaimed.

" Yes, no doubt, missiles. It looks like Specter Island is its target," Mercury said.

" Why would they want to blow up the island?" Rick asked. All of them were now looking at the seven smoke trails moving heavenwards towards the sky, almost disappearing into the sky.

" Well, it is obvious: Eradication. To wipe out everything that has been infected by the virus. This is what they did to Raccoon City, where they blew it into a large smoking crater with a several bombs. It is almost impossible to destroy all the zombies with conventional weapons," Mercury explained.

Rick thought for a while, then asked " You know, you said that the government ordered a lockdown in such a way that they might be aiding Umbrella in retrieving what was left of the virus. So, wouldn't blowing it up destroy everything?"

" Yes, I know…I don't really understand…" Mercury mused.

---

" Nuclear missiles…" Max gasped, looking at the whole load of explosives being discharged into the sky.

" I don't really think that they would use radioactive bombs to blow up Specter Island. It will make it inhabitable for sometime…Hmm, didn't they blow up Raccoon city using conventional missiles?" Kimmy asked, looking at the spectacle in the sky.

" Well, here's a thought: would they actually want to build another city on an island like this?" Max questioned.

" Point well taken…" Kimmy replied.

Both of them stared at the missiles as they disappear into the clouds high above. They did not speak for while. Kimmy later broke the silence by asking " You know, the government issued a lockdown over this place in order for Umbrella to carry out its research on the virus, why would they want to destroy it now?"

" Maybe they decided not to help, or someone else decided to intervene. Either way, it is good in a way. Specter Island will be nothing more than a memory after this," Max replied.

" You know, it's strange that both of us are not alarmed that we are about to become dust particles in maybe a few minutes," Max said, staring at Kimmy.

" Not like we can help it," Kimmy said.

Max felt that she was right. It was all over for them. He could somehow feel the end of them coming already. He had no strength to continue. The missiles would come, and once they did, they would be nothing more than particles of dust after this. A welcoming relief after what he had been through. He turned his attention to Kimmy, who was looking at the sky serenely without a care in the world. He somehow felt that he should do something more than just give up.

A sudden soft pop was heard and Max looked around for the source of the noise. " Did you hear that?" he asked, his eyes warily looking around for any signs of danger, which were mainly in the forms of zombies and hunters. So far, he could spot none.

" I heard that, alright. I can also see it," Kimmy replied apprehensively. Max spotted her staring at his chest and he moved his eyes in that direction as well.

There was a dart about 4 inches in length with its pointed needle already embedded into his body, piercing his bandages. He wrapped his hands around it and pulled it out, wincing slightly as it stung. He did not need to be told that it was a tranquilizer dart, because he had already started to feel the effects.

His eyes started spinning as he felt back onto the tree. He could just about hear Kimmy's voice calling out his name. He felt a strong wind buffet against his body and soon enough, a helicopter landed down just right in front of them. The last thing he felt was somebody pulling him up and dragging his body along.


	33. Chapter 29: Reunion

**Chapter 29: Reunion**

Max felt like he was in heaven, or he was dreaming, or both. His body seemed very light and his head was spinning around in circles. He tried clenching his fists, but he felt like his arms had been disconnected from his body. He tried to shake off the stupor, trying to shake his head to clear his mind.

He could hear some sounds coming from the background, mainly shouting, one voice in particular was a female which sounded really familiar to him. The fog was starting to lift and he could hear the voices clearer. The female was saying something about not doing it while the other male voices were just mocking her. It suddenly hit him that the voice belonged to Kimmy.

At once, the fog around him started to lift. He felt himself regaining control over his body. He vaguely remembered that he was shot with a tranquilizer dart, but that was of no importance now since he was fully awake.

But apparently he was wrong. As he jumped to his feet, he suddenly felt that he had no control of his balance. Unable to control himself, he toppled to the left, knocking himself hard on the floor. A roar of laughter followed for sometime as he tried his best to get up again.

He did his best to recover his senses quickly, looking around his surrounding. He was in a hold of what looked like a helicopter. He could hear the sound of the rotors spinning loudly above him. The helicopter was mainly empty, the seats by the side not taken except by him a few seconds ago.

There were seven other people along with him in the helicopter. Four were dressed in army uniforms. Max did not need to be told that they were the Navy Seals that had been hunting them for sometime now. Two of them held Kimmy, who looked worse for wear, with their arms around her half-naked body, telling Max what they had intended to do earlier before Max's intrusion. Two others were seated at the front, the pilots of the bird.

" Looks like our package recovered pretty quickly," someone said.

" What the fuck do you think you are doing with her?" Max asked, pointing an unsteady finger at Kimmy.

" None of your business kiddo," one of them said, turning around his attention to Kimmy.

" Hell, you keep your hands off her!" Max yelled, stepping forward. However, the Navy Seals blocked his way, and since all four of them looked like they were twice his size, he felt it was prudent not to fight them.

" So what? She your girlfriend or something?" another one sneered.

" Yeah, sort of," Max replied.

All four of them burst out laughing, some of them grabbing their bellies and almost dropping on the floor. Max felt that their situation was a dangerous one, and he needed to gain an upper hand before they started outraging Kimmy's modesty. She looked at him weakly, her face pale and sweaty and she was too weak to talk. Max figured she probably got an infection from the wound and it was giving her a fever. The problem was this rowdy bunch of assholes did not look like they gave a damn.

Max started to think why was he here. Why would a group of them wanted him dead and another deciding to carry them on-board? It did not make any sense to him, but things did not need to make any sense right now.

" Release her or else…" Max threatened.  
" Or else what?" All of them started to advance on him, the two holding Kimmy placing her aside. The pilot looked at the commotion for a while before looking back in front of him. One of the Navy Seal's hand went towards the side of his vest. Max though that he would go for his pistol holster, but instead, they guy drew out his knife. _All for the better then…_

" Kimmy, I think you better not see this," Max replied, trying to keep a serious expression the best he could. The Navy Seals watched in apprehension and disgust as Max started to unbuckle his pants. His zipper was stuck a little bit, and he had difficulty pulling it down. He had to jump a little to break it loose and when it did, Kimmy's eyes widened in fascination as he dropped his pants to the floor and stood stark naked in the hold.

" Fuck, you some kind of a faggot?" one of them asked, a look of utter disgust apparent on his face.

Max knew confidently he had beaten them. He reached down to his pants and retrieved the .357 Magnum Prof. Mason had issued him for his job as a security guard. He had almost forgotten that he had stuffed the gun in his pants. It had apparently slipped down his pats down to his rear end and the Navy Seals did not confiscate it from him, probably because they don't want to search his ass.

" Yup, I'm a faggot, alright, and this is my cock you son of a bitches. .357 Magnum, made from solid steel, all primed and ready. Guess what, it is fully loaded, enough for all of you bastards," Max grinned, aiming the revolver at them. He heard something that vaguely sounded like a chuckle coming from Kimmy, but he could not be sure of that when he was busy with the Navy Seals.

One of the Navy Seals immediately reached for his gun. Max saw him move and did not hesitate. There was a loud bang as he fired his gun at the man, blowing his brains apart. The second figured he could beat Max to the draw, but he was wrong and for that he had his brains blown out.

" Sorry, kids, I forgot to tell you that I have an excellent aim," Max proudly declared. In fact, he was not really good at aiming and both his headshots were just very lucky, but the Navy Seals did not need to know that.

Having gotten his intentions through, the other two backed-up away from him with their hands raised. Max glared at one of them as he moved too close to Kimmy, willing him to move away. One of the pilots made a grab for the radio, hoping Max would not notice somehow. He found out later that Max did with a bullet through his head. The second pilot screamed in terror as he watched his comrade's brains open up.

The killing had numbed him somewhat, but he told himself its killed or be killed. He might regret his actions in due time, but morality did not bother him right now.

" Alright, I've got a couple of options for you: Jump off the helicopter or I'll kill you," Max said coldly.

" We are in the middle of the ocean," one objected.

Max immediately aimed for his head and pulled the trigger, killing him in an instant. " That's it not my fucking problem. So, what's your choice?" Max asked, aiming his revolver at the last one standing. He did not hesitate: he immediately launched himself through the helicopter's open door and down towards the deep blue sea.

" What about me?" the remaining pilot asked, obviously terrified.

" You fly, and I'll spare your life," Max said, pressing the steel barrel onto his temple. The pilot winced in pain as he felt the hot barrel make contact with his skin.

" If you kill me, this helicopter will drop, and you'll die as well," the pilot threatened, although it was a very weak threat.

Max pulled the dead body of the pilot out of his seat. He strapped himself on, always keeping his aim onto the pilot's head. " I know that, but although I haven't driven one in some time, I don't believe my skills are that rusty," Max snarled. The pilot whimpered, realizing he could not threaten him further. Max turned to Kimmy and winked at her, in which she replied with a weak smile.

" Where…Where are we heading?" the pilot asked.

" Just fly for a while and don't ask questions will you," Max demanded, pressing the gun harder onto the man's temple. " I'll be doing the questioning here. First of all, who ordered you people to come?"

" I don't rightly know…" the pilot replied. Max cocked the revolver.

" Please, seriously, I don't know. Order's came from the higher echelons, I don't know who ordered it. Anybody with enough political or military leverage could have called us up. The only thing I know is that there was a presidential approval for this mission," the pilot replied.

_Presidential approval? That would mean the big guy in the White House in involved in this mess!_

" What were your orders?" Max asked.

" We were ordered to come here and try to retrieve the TS virus from its host if possible. Our second objective was to ensure nobody leaves the island until the issued order had been stopped," came the answer.

Max thought for a while, then asked " Why did you all pick both of us up?"

" We had observed you destroy a helicopter by yourself. Apparently, after we relayed the information, some of us figured that the reason why you could have taken the helicopter down single-handedly was due to the fact that you were infected by the virus and it had somehow altered your body to serve as a B.O.W. The girl there was just an extra the rest of them decided to pick up," the pilot replied.

" How far are we from the island?" Max asked.

" A few miles off," the pilot replied.

He looked at the controls for a second, contemplating upon something. " Switch on your radar," Max ordered.

" Why?"

He was answered by Max pressing the barrel harder onto his temple.

---

Jason looked into the sky as the helicopter approached him. It landed upon the flat, grassy area near the airport. Mindful to keep his head low, he slowly ran towards the chopper, ready to take him away from this nightmare.

" About time you got here," Jason told the pilot.

" I would not need to fetch you if you did not screw up releasing the virus, Jason. So, don't blame me, because it is your entire fault," the female pilot replied.

" Whatever, you say, Marie," Jason sighed, dropping down onto the hold as his sister lifted the helicopter off, leaving the island forever.

---

" Hell, a helicopter is approaching us!" Rick yelled.

Mercury looked behind him and his heart fell. Indeed, a helicopter was approaching them at top speed. Reflexively, he and Dalton dove for their guns, although they were not sure that rifle bullets could dent the helicopter's armour. Just as they were about to fire, a voice called out to them from the exterior speakers of the helicopter:

" What the hell is your problem? The first thing you want to do when you see me again is to shoot me?"

Mercury and Dalton lowered their rifles, wondering if the pilot was playing a joke with them. Apparently Rick understood the joke, as he jumped up and cried " Max, it is you." as loud as he could.

"He's alive…" Mercury said. He could have sworn that Max was lying over the phone, and so had Rachael.

" Where to next fellas? Know where you all are heading? Oh, and just to let you know, Kimmy is safe with me, but she had developed a fever from an infection from the shot, but she's fine," Max said.

All of them nodded their heads.

" Great, I'll follow all of you," Max said. The helicopter then slowed down to the speed of the speedboat and continued along the way.

---

" Are you sure they will come?" a female asked Dr. Pickton.

" I am sure of that," Dr. Pickton replied. The female merely shrugged, not wanting to argue with her employer. She walked back to the helicopter they had brought along and started to check the engine to waste her time. Dr. Pickton stood a few feet away, looking out into the open sea where he stood at the beach.

He had informed Iris that he would be waiting at one of the islands that were scattered around the area. He looked at his watch, then gazed back to the open ocean.

" It looks like they have arrived," Dr. Pickton replied. The other female looked up, and spotted it at once. Far away, a speedboat was arriving, and tailing it was a helicopter. Dr. Pickton wanted to raise his arms and signal to the boat, but found that he was held back by his pilot. Moreover, she had taken out her gun and cocked it.

" What is that for?" Dr. Pickton asked, alarmed.

" Safety precautions," the pilot replied.

" What safety precautions do we need? It is my daughter that's coming here!" Dr. Pickton raised his voice.

" I understand that, but I'm sure Iris did not mention a helicopter, not to mention it is a military helicopter," she replied. Dr. Pickton felt that she was right in a way. He decided to wait.

The speedboat soon landed upon the beach, and before it had fully stopped, Iris had already jumped out of the vehicle and was running along the sandy beach to her father. Within seconds, both the father and daughter were together again, hugging each other gratefully and in each others' tears.

The helicopter landed some place not far away and as the engine died down, Max emerged from the helicopter cradling Kimmy in his arms. He had his trousers back on to avoid any problems. The rest of them had gotten out of the boat, and Mercury was the first one to greet him.

" I see you made it safely out of the island, on a helicopter no doubt," Mercury grinned.

" Well, a person with my expertise would not have any problem," Max bragged. He was met with a slap coming from Kimmy.

" She's not feeling too well, that's why she is acting like this . Do they have any medicine or antibiotics on board?' Max asked, placing Kimmy gingerly down on the floor. At this point, Rick had already come up to Max and was now hugging him like some long lost brother.

" Go ask then," Mercury said, patting Dalton on the shoulder.

" Why me?" he argued.

" Just go you lazy bum," Mercury said. Dalton gave a resigned sigh and walked towards Iris and her father. Max got up when he saw his sister coming up to him, but instead of a hug, she gave him another tight slap as well. He jerked to the right after feeling the hit, reeling back at the hit.

" Kinda reminds me of you, you know," Max grinned at Kimmy.

" You had me worried there, you lousy bastard!" Rachael howled, beating Max several times on his chest before deciding to hug him instead. Max patted her as she started crying on his shoulder. He shrugged sheepishly at Mercury and Rick who looked at the exchange curiously.

" Who is she?" Rachael asked, pointing towards Kimmy.

" Oh, well, someone I know…her name is Kimmy," Max introduced.

Rachael was already down on her knees next to Kimmy, shaking her weak hands. " Hi, I'm Rachael, and I'd like to apologise on behalf of this half-wit brother of mine to whatever nonsense he had put you through the last few days," she said. Kimmy took her hand graciously and mouth something like thank you.

" Argh!" Max groaned " Don't embarrass me in front of her!"

" I hear that there is someone who is injured here. Allow me to check. I'm a medical doctor," Dr. Pickton said, coming up to them carrying a first aid kit, although as he opened it Max noticed it did not contain the normal items in a conventional first aid kit. He untied Kimmy's bandages and analyzed her wounds. " Thankfully the wound is just shallow enough to miss her vital organs, if not we would need to send her to a hospital immediately. You did quite well in removing the bullet, kid," he continued, administering some medicine and proceeding to bandage her wounds with clean bandages this time. Max hated being called a kid, but he liked his praise so he was not about to complain.

" I thought you were a researcher," Dalton noted.

" I am a researcher also, but I also have a degree in medicine. Something like a bit of both," Dr. Pickton said. He started filling up a syringe with some liquid from a bottle.

" Should we be leaving?" the female who was with Dr. Pickton asked.

" Not yet. These people have been injured. I'll tend to their injuries as best as I can before we leave. You may get the helicopter ready," Dr. Pickton replied. The female nodded and turned around to head for their helicopter they had left inland.

-

" Yeah, and no shit, this revolver saved my life!"

Max was done telling the rest of his companions the events that happened, from the skirmish with the helicopter till his departure from the island. Most of them were inclined not to believe Max's story, thinking that the part where he blew up a helicopter single-handedly was just too far-fetched. But Kimmy supported his story, and they decided not to argue with him.

" You were damn lucky to get off that island. I thought you were a goner," Dalton said.

" Well, you could say that," Max replied.

Almost all of them were now sitting on the beach, just waiting for Dr. Pickton to finish up his work so that they could leave. Rick and Vanessa were now playing in the beach, rather oblivious to getting their shoes wet in the ocean water. They could not understand how Rick's mind worked. He had just gotten out of a zombie infested island and the first thing he does is have fun.

" Well, I'm done here," Dr. Pickton replied, getting up after he was done bandaging Mercury's wounds with fresh bandages. " We'll need to get you all to a medical center as fast as possible. Let's go."

" Can we stay a bit longer?" Max asked.

" What the hell do you want to stay here for?" Dalton exclaimed, wondering if Max had knocked his head heard somewhere.

" I just need to watch that," he said, pointing his finger into the air. All of them looked at see what Max wanted to look at so much. The missiles were now dropping down from the sky and headed straight for the island.

" The last of Specter Island…I just need to see this…" Max said. The rest of them obliged, staying around, watching the missiles fall to the ground.

_Writer's note: No idea on where I got the inspiration of Max getting a weapon out of his pants, but that part was pretty funny for me. I started to ponder on how to get him out of the mess and this idea came up. _

_I must also note that I'm unfamiliar with bullet wounds. I'm not sure whether a rifle bullet to the stomach can kill a person or how deep it has to be to cause severe damage. So, on Kimmy's part, I'm not too sure on the extent of the damage she received and whether this is possible or not. But this is a fanfic, so don't sue me if I'm wrong..._

_I know tranquilizers work longer than that then the one on Max, but...explanations will come later._


	34. Chapter 30: The Final Call

**Chapter 30: The Final Call**

Phoenix could not understand what Max was doing. His situation was hopeless: the zombies had encircled him all around the bus, and there was no escape save for running through all of them. He gave another zombie a swift kick in the jaw, seeing him reel backwards at the attack and fall upon other zombies around him as he reloaded the last magazine he had. Another managed to get up upon the bus. Phoenix gave a sweep at his legs, toppling it on the roof of the bus. By this time, he was done and he aimed the gun at another target.

Phoenix had already tried to convince Max and the rest to leave, but that idiot was still adamant that Phoenix was coming with them. He was still standing there, wasting his ammunition against a wave of enemies he knew he could not beat but he still tried. Phoenix decided that Max would not leave unless Phoenix came with them or was dead. He decided to convince Max to leave.

Looking around, he calculated how much power would erupt if he blew up a grenade over the vehicles surrounding him. He guessed it might break the bridge, which was in a way good since it would seal the rest of the island off from more on-coming zombies. He just hoped that it would not break before they left the bridge.

He pulled out a grenade from his pocket, seeing Max's eyes widen. " I came here chasing something I could not find. You know, it was great seeing you again," Phoenix told Max, meaning it.

As his hands reached for the pin, a pair of hands grabbed his legs. He looked down just in time to see a zombie yanking his legs. He grunted as he slammed upon the roof of the bus as more hands reached out to pull him down. He tried to struggle to free himself from the grasp, but it was to no avail. He felt himself being pulled downwards, off the bus.

Phoenix felt his body hit the tarmac, with a whole swarm of zombies hovering above him. He was ready to yank the pin of the grenade off, but suddenly realized that he had only the pin in his hands. When he was pulled down, he must have accidentally pulled the pin and the grenade slipped from his fingers. He saw a small round object slip under a car while he heard Max's muffled scream. He was unable to avoid a zombie clamping its jaw down on him.

Phoenix wanted to yell, but he found that he did not have the voice. The zombie bit furiously upon his collarbone, tearing off bits of flesh as it continued. Phoenix gasped as the bites stung his body. He could feel the pain send jolts down his body.

As he tried to heave the zombie off his body, a loud explosion rang out, throwing it and the rest of it around it aside like a bunch of rag dolls. The grenade had exploded directly under a car, and the secondary explosions were blowing up other cars as well, ripping the zombie to bits and blowing them aside. Phoenix felt his skin burn slightly was he felt the heat sear his body.

Delirious and bleeding in pain, he tried to roll himself out of the way. He felt the warm, sticky fluids flow down his chest, his blood flowing everywhere. He got up to his feet and looked around at the damage he had caused.

There was a whole load of cars which were now burning wreckages upon the bridge. The zombies were now getting up again after the blast, now lumbering after him. He was about to move when he heard a loud sickening crack. He looked at the floor to see it split in half. He leaped to his left to avoid falling down into the ocean as the bridge split in half, giving way to the strain and damage he had caused.

There was a loud sonic boom in the air, and the vibrations threw him and the other zombies off their feet. Phoenix reached out ad grabbed the side of a car to steady himself as the vibrations got more violent. The sound of steel and cement cracking was exploding in the air, and Phoenix watched, wide-eyed, at the scene. The bridge had now fallen apart, and the rest of it was falling into the water, bringing up tons of dust and dirt. In the distance, he could see a pick-up truck making its way to the other side as fast as the wheels could carry it.

His troubles were far from over. His area of the bridge was cracking as well, and it would not take long before it too fell into the water. Phoenix started running into the opposite direction as fast as he could, but after being bitten by the zombies, he felt that he could barely run. He tried to hobble along as fast as he could. A loud crash indicated that the entire bridge was falling apart.

He caught a glimpse of vehicles and zombies alike falling down to the water as the bridge gave way, breaking under their feet. The structure fell apart and dropped into the ocean, sinking faster than he could imagine. He realized he could not out-run the damaged bridge, and his fate was to stay buried under a ton of rubble as he sank to the bottom of the ocean.

Or maybe not.

Phoenix glanced to the side, looking at the edge of the bridge. If he could run fast enough, then he could be able to jump off at the side. No doubt, he would still end up in the water, but at least he would not be weighed down by a ton of cement.

He turned to the side, narrowly missing a zombie who made a lunge for him. He barged his body as hard as he could into another zombie to move it out of the way. As the bridge on his area gave way, he leaped up the railings of the bridge and jumped as far as he could from the bridge. He felt the railing gave way under his feet as he jumped.

His jump in the air was a short one, as gravity started to take over and accelerated him downwards. It hurt as he smashed into the water, straining his shoulders. He felt his entire body being immersed in cold water, stinging his nerves. He did not have much time to take a breath as he crashed under the surface of the water. Before he could reach up to take a good breath, the bridge crashed down on the water, sending along powerful waves that turned him upside-down in the water.

Phoenix felt himself getting weak from the lack of oxygen. The waves were pushing him under, further and further away from the surface. The water around him was stained in red from his blood, blinding him slightly. His vest was somehow restricting his movements. He wondered if he should have not worn it at all.

His vision started to darken and he started to weaken. The waves have stopped pushing downwards, but he was too weak to try to swim upwards. He rose to the surface, but he somehow felt he was too late. He lost consciousness when he broke out of the surface.

-

Phoenix wondered if he was in heaven, or hell for that matter. He felt his body was burning somewhere on his chest, and something was stuck in his throat. His body felt too painful to be in heaven and not painful enough for hell.

Phoenix shot up straight and coughed violently. He could feel an amount of water coming out of his mouth that had been stuck in his throat, tasting salty. He continued to cough to clear his chest, hitting his chest to expel the water. When he was done, he felt totally drained, and fell back upon where he was lying.

He had apparently drifted along the ocean to the 1st Island. He weakly checked his watch to see how long he had been out. Apparently for only half-an-hour. He was now lying down on an embankment along the island. He was quite surprised that no zombie had shown up yet to clam him as food.

As he decided to just lie down there, strangely grateful that he was still alive, he realized it was over for him. He had been infected, and soon he would be just like almost everybody else on the island. Already, he could feel a weird cramping feeling in his stomach. He wondered if it was one of the symptoms before he turned into one of the undead.

While he contemplated on his fate, he saw something in the sky: several missiles being launch into the clouds. This made him sit up straight as it caught his attention. Missiles! The government had now decided to blow up Specter Island. With that Phoenix felt that his fate was sealed.

He was later unable to explain why he acted as such, but his lifespan was going to be to short now to contemplate on such things. With his last remaining ounce of strength, he got himself off the ground and started walking away into the mainland of the island. He realized that he still had his Desert Eagle handgun with him and he took it out, willing that no zombie would deny him of what he was going to experience.

He took a glance around to the tallest building in sight, which was a tall water tower, where the top was accessible with a ladder. He decided to head for it and he moved towards it.

Two zombies approached him, and he raised his gun to fire at their heads. He found it quite surprising that he could still execute headshots even in his weakened state, although his hands were shaky when he fired at them. Two more came up from behind, but he decided not to bother about those and ran on ahead.

He came up to a fence. He pulled himself up the metal grills, his hands stinging painfully was he pulled himself up. Reaching the top, he jumped down and landed on the ground on both his feet. This act caused him to feel a jolt of pain on his upper chest. It was then when he realized he had not bandaged the wound where the zombie had bit him. It was not bleeding much now, mostly aberrations that have stopped bleeding now.

He continued along the way, dropping several zombies in their tracks as they tried to make a move on him. Soon enough, he was out of bullets, but he had already reached his destination: the water tower.

Tucking his now useless gun in his pants, he started to climb the ladder leading up to the water tower. His whole body was aching, but he willed himself to move up the ladder. There were several times where his foot or hand slipped from the bar, but his resolution was strong enough to pull him through.

After several minutes, he heaved himself up to the top platform of the water tower. He closed the top hatch of the landing so that the zombies would not climb up here and interrupt him. Taking a few moments to catch his breath, he walked up to the edge and admired the view.

At this vantage point, he could almost see all the other islands. Most of it was now left in smoking ruins, sending up clouds of smoke into air and darkening the sky a bit. But it was not enough to blot out the sun, which was now shining brightly as it rose high in the sky.

Phoenix took off his vest and felt the warmth of the sun soak his cold, wet skin. Then, after a while, he broke into a grin. He realized he had not smiled in a long time. He remembered that even sunshine could even crack Max up. He decided to follow his advice, smiling at the warmth of the sun.

As he felt the heat warm up his body, he spotted the missiles coming back down on him. Specter Island was going to be wiped out, nothing but a memory. Phoenix welcomed the thought of it. It was the end, something he would have found some time ago but somehow found it here.

As he waited for the bombs to fall, he felt a warm yet soft hand touch hold his. He turned around to look at a young, blonde lady staring out into the open view, watching the scene with him. After a while, she looked at him and smiled.

" It has been a long time, hasn't it?" she asked.

" Yes, Sara, it has been long," he replied, wondered if he was somehow dreaming. " I should have…"

" No, you should not, Phoenix. You had to come here to serve your purpose. It was not time for you to go yet," Sara said softly.

" When is my time?" Phoenix asked.

" Anytime starting from now," Sara replied, smiling.

Phoenix watched the missiles slowly drop. It was almost time.

" Now would be good," he said, squeezing Sara's hand tighter.

As the first bomb fell and lighted up the sky, Phoenix's mind started racing back to remember all the things he had gone through: his rough parents, becoming a mercenary, joining Umbrella, meeting up with Max, quitting the job, marrying and later losing Sara, coming here after someone who looked like her till the very end where he decided not to follow the rest of them out of them island. He realized that his life was very short, and he practically did nothing at all.

" No, it was not," Sara said, echoing his thoughts. " You spent it well…"

It was all that he needed to hear. As the blast was about to engulf him, his thoughts turned to Max. _I wonder what he would be thinking right now. I wish I had more time to say my thanks…_

He did not ponder for it long. Within the next second, Phoenix Grant became from man to memory.

---

The rest of them stared as blast after blast rocked the earth, sending tremors and quakes as Specter Island went up in a large fireball. They felt strong winds blow against them as the blast erupted to its maximum. As the blast settled, Max could swear he heard a voice in the background calling out his name.

_Writer's note: Well, that's the end of the road for Phoenix. He was one of my favourite characters, but I figured maybe I should eliminate one character, and I'm not sure why I chose him. I wanted Max at first, but since he was much of a main character, I couldn't. I had original plans to eliminate everybody, but I hate such an ending._

_Well, I'm almost done here. One more chapter to go: the epilogue. _


	35. Epilogue: Finishing Touches

**Epilogue: Finishing Touches**

_Three months later_

Max sat quietly on the chair browsing through the papers for anything interesting to read. There was only more news on the recent assassination of the President of the United States and all the conspiracy theories that have been circulating the press, but nothing conclusive has been reported yet. Vice-President Graham, who had taken the reins of the Presidency after the President's assassination, refused to comment.

Max felt that the President's assassination was rather timely as this allowed Specter Island to be avoided in the news. Specter Island was now a forgotten entity, a mere piece of land that used to exist. Of course, there are still articles going on about what really happen and that everybody was guessing Umbrella's work in this, but the assassination has taken the heat and attention off the destruction of the island. Max sighed and flipped the page.

" I see nothing new," a voice said.

" Yeah, and my life is such a bore right now…not that I'm really complaining," Max replied.

Mercury took a seat opposite his. A waitress came up to him to ask if he wanted anything to drink. He ordered some coffee and she left. Max tossed the papers aside and looks at Mercury.

" Not worried they might spot you here?" Max asked.

" As far as they are concerned, Mercury Cross is as good as dead, so they would not be bothered about me. Besides, this is a very good disguise," Mercury said.

Max was not sure he could agree. Mercury was wearing a large hat that was so big it was practically covering his nose. He had a habit of wearing trench coats with very large collars that cover his face. He still retained his habit of wearing tinted goggles, although it was more inconspicuous now with his extra attire. Max could spot him easily: just look for a suspicious looking individual with a trench coat. That was not too hard to find.

" You look like some criminal," Max laughed.

" I am," Mercury replied. He dug into one of his trench coat's deep pockets and drew out a small bottle of purplish liquid. He placed it on the table and shoved the bottle to Max. Max eyed the bottle quizzically, then quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into his jacket as the waitress returned with Mercury's coffee.

" That's the vaccine," Mercury said, sipping his coffee.

" I can see that, although I must admit it looks poisonous. How do I take it?" Max asked.

" You drink it," Mercury coolly replied. Max face turned a shade of green.

He unscrewed the cap, and taking a deep breath, drank the entire bottle in one large gulp. Thankfully, it tasted bland, unlike whatever bitter taste Max had envisioned.

" There, that's it. There is no need to continue to take the serum to keep your body alive. The virus has been neutralized and you are practically saved," Mercury said.

" Thanks a bunch," Max replied. " Anyway, I needed to ask this."

" What is it?" Mercury asked.

" How does your 'serum' function?"

" I don't get your question," Mercury asked.

Max looked around, observing the surrounding area to make sure nobody was looking, then said " Look, strange thing is, even though you suppressed the virus, the thing is that I was already seriously injured at the time when you administered the serum. However, I was able to get up, shoot off zombies and gun down a helicopter. Somehow, that serum did more than suppress the virus, in my opinion."

" Well," Mercury said, sighing " You aren't wrong in a way."

Max raised his eyebrows.

" The serum did not only suppress the virus, it combines the virus temporarily with specific cells in your body to create a B.O.W.," Mercury replied.

Max stared at him, wondering if he heard it right. " You turned me into a B.O.W.?"

" In a way, yes. It has been noted that B.O.W.s attain more endurance and stamina when infected with the virus. We couldn't possibly carry you around the place in your state. I had no choice…"

" Don't say, I know that," Max said. Even though he said that, he still felt a bit grossed out at what Mercury had done to him, although he had no right to complain.

" How's Kimmy?" Mercury asked.

" Recovering. Dr. Pickton says she will be discharged today. I'm picking her up after I fetch Rick and Vanessa from school," Max replied. He glanced at his watch, then suddenly got to his feet. " God, I'm late. Why do I never watch the time? See you around," he said, storming out of the café. Mercury eyed him as he made his way across the car-park to his car, before taking the newspaper Max had left behind and started to browse through it.

---

" Is Kimmy coming to stay with us?" Rick asked, leaning in front of Max's seat from behind.

" Why do you ask? And sit back, you numbskull, and wear your seatbelt!" Max exclaimed.

Since Rick and Vanessa had no close relatives to take care of them now, Max decided to take them in. Sure, his small, apartment block was still in a damn mess, but Rick and Vanessa were not complaining about it. Rachael had allowed them to stay at her place for a while he got things in order.

Prof. Mason had left them his entire fortune, which was close to several million dollars, including some estates he had, even in Europe. According to his will, they were allowed to draw a small sum, which was up to several thousand a month, to cover their expanses that their guardian had to spend on them. Rick insisted that it was alright with Max taking care of them, so monetary problems were solved. He did not have to work and he got a few thousand dollars to keep. Of course, he realized that this would only last until Vanessa reached the age of eighteen.

Max was still unable to figure out why Prof. Mason decided to hire him prior to the outbreak. Max was summoned before the outbreak and Max could speculate as much, that much he knew from what he saw at Prof. Mason's study. It was the unknown reason that puzzled him.

Max gave some thought about the fact that Prof. Mason was once, or still is until his untimely death, an employee of Umbrella and the theory Rick gave about Max being there to shuttle them to safety, but there were still loopholes in the theory and plot. If Prof. Mason knew the virus was about to be spread there, why wait? Couldn't he have sent Rick and Vanessa to safety before then? What compelled him to allow them to stay behind?

Max had once even figured out another idea: maybe he did not really know yet. Maybe information about the spread of the virus was not known. Unlike Raccoon city, Specter Island was immediately infected within the day. Maybe he really wanted to hire Max for some time now, and the outbreak was just a mere 'coincidence'. Whatever the reason, Max guessed Prof. Mason took it to his grave.

Max glanced behind to look at the two kids behind sitting in the backseat. With nowhere to go, Max decided to be their guardian. He was not too sure why he even bothered with a hyperactive boy and a silent girl, but he never questioned his motives before.

" Is Kimmy coming to stay with us?" Rick asked excitedly again. There was no stopping him now.

" Why do you ask?" Max asked, turning around the corner.

" Well, I've heard both of you discussing it for some time now. So, tell me!" Rick exclaimed.

" Yes, she is," Max replied warily, hoping Rick would keep his noise level down.

" Whoopee!" he exclaimed.

Max parked his car near the entrance of a small clinic. All three of them got out and headed towards the entrance. Dr. Pickton spotted them immediately and came walking up to them.

" Ah, Maximillion Hunter…" he started, bringing up his hand.

" Call me Max," Max replied.

" Max, it's good to see you again. Kimmy will be ready in a short while, so why don't you wait out here for a minute?" Dr. Pickton replied.

Kimmy needed to be hospitalized for her wounds she received from the excursion at the island, but they felt it was prudent that they keep it quiet, since the medical officers at the normal general hospitals would ask questions on where she got her gunshot wound. Dr. Pickton ran a small clinic and he had agreed to keep her here till she got better so nobody would ask any questions. It was his way to say thank you, in a way.

" I realized I have not really thanked you for taking my daughter off that island yet," he said.

" Please, it was nothing. Besides, I did not do much. You should say thank you to Phoenix," Max replied.

The name Phoenix brought back memories, of his past with him and their short and tense friendship. Even though, Max still felt a sense of loss, and he wondered if he could turn back time, would he be able to change anything. No doubt, Phoenix was always cold towards him in a way, but he was the next closest thing he had to a parent, besides his sister. In fact, Max envisioned him to be more of a father figure for him.

He still did not make any contact with his parents, even after the disaster. Since they probably did not know about him going there, they probably would not be bothered anyway. Rachael had insisted that he speak to them, but he was stubborn. If he considered Phoenix to be something of a father to him, then Dr. Hunter was as good as dead.

" Unfortunately, he is not here, and I feel sorry for your loss. Anyway, even if you did not do much, you still did something. I'm grateful for that," Dr. Pickton replied. Max was not about to argue with that.

" And how have you been?" a female voice asked.

Max turned around to get a good look at Kimmy. She looked considerably thinner after three months mainly in bed, but other than that she looked perfectly normal. Rick and Vanessa went up to her to greet her and she hugged them both warmly.

" No hug for me?" Max asked, after she disentangled herself from the two kids.

Kimmy went up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. " Yeah, no hugs for you," she replied cheekily.

He merely shrugged in reply. " I can live with that," Max said.

---

" Thought I'd find you here," Dalton said to a lone figure dressed in a trench coat sitting at the bus stop.

" Yeah, I knew you would," Mercury replied, looking at his watch.

" What the hell are you doing here?" Dalton asked.

" My job with Umbrella is not finished, and it looks like it never will. I feel that it is my responsibility to finish it, no matter the cost," Mercury replied.

" Alone?" Iris asked incredulously.

Mercury spun around to see another familiar face. " I'm sorry, Iris. I was not aware that you were here. Forgive me," Mercury said.

" Relax, you don't need to apologizes," Iris said.

" Look, why can't I come with you?" Dalton asked.

" Because I don't want you in this," Mercury replied.

" That's rather harsh," Dalton scoffed.

" That's because I am!" Mercury replied, jumping to his feet. Even with his goggles on, Dalton could feel Mercury's eyes probing him. " You are just a kid, Dalton, no matter how hard you have been through life, you are just a kid. Not just a kid, alright, someone important to me! I'm not going to waste you in some foolish pursuit of mine!"

" Foolish pursuit? Then why do you bother?" Dalton asked.

" Cause it is my pursuit!" Mercury replied. He seemed to calm a little after the outburst, backing off. Catching his breath, he replied, " It's because it want it so. There are many things left unsettled and I need to finish them."

" Why not ask Max and Kimmy…"

" There is no need to bother other people in this matter, Dalton, and I swear you will keep this to yourself or so help me…" Mercury said. The late night had arrived and Iris flagged it down to stop. There was a loud hiss as the bus came to a full stop next to the station and the doors swung open.

Mercury picked up his bags and went up the bus, not bothering to look back at Dalton. Both Dalton and Iris stared at the bus for a while, watching it disappear into the darkness of the night.

" Hmm, that guy never changes," Dalton said, patting Iris's shoulder, signaling that they should leave.

---

" What are you thinking about?" Kimmy asked.

" What?" Max said.

" You have been staring at the ceiling for some time now. What are you thinking about now?" Kimmy asked, nudging herself closer to Max. Rick and Vanessa had already fallen asleep in their own beds. Both of them were snugly snuggled up on his couch.

Max wrapped his arms around her shoulders and said, " I don't know really. I don't really think much. It's just that after what we've been through in Specter Island made me more critical of Umbrella, I guess."

" Are we against them?" Kimmy asked.

" You want to fight some rebellion against them?" Max asked.

" I'm been doing that all my life since I lost my brother years ago. It would not matter much now. And in fact, we should. And I insist upon it. Why shouldn't you?" Kimmy asked. Max was not sure what to answer.

All of a sudden, his cell phone rang. Max squirmed as he tried to get the vibrating object out of his back pocket as it was tickling him. He pulled out the contraption and pressed the receiver button. " Hello?" he spoke.

Kimmy watched as he listened to the phone for a while, his expression going from mild concern, to confusion, then to amusement. After a while, he said, " Fine, we'll be there."

" Who was that?" Kimmy asked as Max got off the couch and started dressing up.

" Iris. She has informed me that Mercury is up to his usual tricks and he has already headed to the airport to God knows where. But, of course, we know what he is up to. Dalton's already heading there, and he has asked us to join him,' Max said.

Kimmy grinned. " Sounds like fun," she said " Who's taking care of Rick and Vanessa?"

" Iris said she can take care of them for the meanwhile. Coming or not?" Max asked, slipping on the holster for his .357 Magnum, the same one Prof. Mason gave him, on his belt.

" I'm coming, of course," Kimmy said. She looked at his gun quizzically. " Are you sure you can smuggle guns through airport security?"

" If Mercury can do it, I think I can too," Max said. Both of them were heading from the front door when a voice stopped them in their tracks.

" Can I come?" Rick asked eagerly, poking his head out of his bedroom door.

_Writer's note: I'm not sure how the vaccine is administrated, but in RE3 Carlos seemed to have given Jill's antidote through her mouth, so I'm guessing you have to drink it, so that's why Max drunk his. For the assassination of the President, that's for you to guess who. The part where Max mentions Mercury smuggling guns through the airport show that he has been up to something within the three months lapse. And yes, Phoenix is really dead._

_There you have it, the final chapter of my story. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to all the readers who had read my story and thank you to those that will. Reviews would be very much appreciated. Now, I'll take a short break before I start on something new…_


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